


A Little Mixed Up

by Rose_Dagger_9194



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Adoption counselor! Louis, Adorable, Babies, Counselor - Freeform, Fluff, Hollywood, Hollywood director! Harry, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, SO MUCH FLUFF, Too many pets, a bit of smut, non-mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-10-07 06:38:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 41,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10354362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Dagger_9194/pseuds/Rose_Dagger_9194
Summary: Harry is a rich Hollywood director with too many pets, who recently divorced from his former husband (who didn't want to settle down and have kids and found someone much younger to run off with).Harry goes to adopt a child as a single father and Louis happens to be the adoption counselor who has to make sure Harry will be a fit father**NOT EDITED**





	1. Prologue - The New Broken Scene

**Author's Note:**

> **Dedicated to @gaysicle on Wattpad**
> 
> This story is not my original idea so I'm going to take the time to credit and thank the original and amazing author that let me use this idea for a book of my own, gaysicle !! Thank you x
> 
> I'm excited to get this book going and I hope it fulfills everything needed. 
> 
> Chao! 
> 
> xx H

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,576

_"So, H, how was your day?"_

_Harry glanced away from where he was hanging his coat up on the coat rack and smiled at his husband._

_"It was good." He stated, stepping towards the kitchen where the male stood, arms crossed and a small smile on his face. "I was working on that new show they're hosting from America. They want to bring the cast up here for their setting and want to work with me on it. England has more of the architecture and weathering they're looking for. You know, like how I visit the states often? Universal studios in Hollywood? Or that one time we went to Miami."_

_The man only hummed. Harry could tell something was off that very moment. Not only do they normally have a very detailed and exciting conversation about their days events, they always are able to sit down with a cuppa as they did that. Harry sees no kettle on the stove from where he stood._

_He decided to ignore the fact. Maybe it was just a bad day for his husband. Everyone had those days, Harry won't be anything but supportive about it. That's what couples do. They work with each other even when they're not at their best. Especially them since they've known each other for ten years, two months and seven days and have been married for six years, five months, three weeks and a day. Harry's been counting. Its some of the most wonderful times in his life, he wants to make sure to document everything to a T._

_That doesn't mean he's over bearing, though. He isn't. He is, however, a director. It's kind of his job to keep track of the biggest things down to the smallest thing. It carries on into his home life and it's worked out for him rather well._

_"So.." Harry trailed off as he stepped closer and pressed a kiss to his husband's lips, stepping around him to get into the kitchen, seeing their kitten, Mr. Sprinkles (courtesy of Harry because his little white face had specks of black that looked like sprinkles and he was a gentleman so his surname would be Mr.), sitting down on the countertop, curled up in the bread box. He was very tiny since they just got him about two weeks ago which makes him about three weeks old. But, whenever he laid in the breadbox, that's when Harry knows that they need more bread. And when to move their chairs to disable his method of transportation from the ground to the counter._

_So, Harry just grabbed the kitten and gently cooed at him, setting him on the floor. "Off you go." He said sweetly, the little animal meowing lightly and trudging from the kitchen slowly. Harry loves him. If it were up to him, he would have taken the whole litter home with him. But he wasn't allowed to._

_That should have been the first warning sign for Harry. Yet, he never thought their relationship would be anything other than happy and healthy._

_"The show has got some really cute babies. Its for one part, but they've got about three families who are willing to give their baby for the role." Harry started to speak again, grabbing the cup of sugar and the cup of cream, keeping those out to search for the kettle._

_"They're all auditioning? The babies, I mean." His husband spoke. Harry just laughed._

_"No, silly. They're all casted already." He stated and glanced back. Upon seeing further confusion in his lovers eyes, he laughed again. "You can't use just one baby for a series. Sometimes that baby won't cooperate and they can use another, identical, baby for the job. It speeds up the process for filming. A brilliant concept. More babies is more fun."_

_Once he finished speaking, there was this odd tension in the air. He continued to set the kettle up with water and set it to the stove for it to start boiling. When he turned around, he saw his husbands eyes settled in a glare. It made him freeze. What has he done wrong? Did he not want tea?_

_"Is this a joke?" The male spoke, jaw clenched shut as he spoke. It was said with such malice and Harry wasn't expecting that._

_"I don't.. I don't understand—"_

_"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb, Harry." The male spoke, rolling his eyes and then just reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You're doing this to try and drop hints, aren't you? Do you not remember how much I hated the idea of even getting that pest you call a cat?"_

_Harry's eyes filled with anger at that. "Don't even dare say that about Mr. Sprinkles." He snapped. Well, he tried to sound angry. Its a bit hard when saying the kittens name in an angry tone._

_"Are you daft?" Was his husband's question and Harry just scoffed in disbelief._

_"No, I think you are. I don't know why you're so angry. What have I done that made you snap at me like this?" Harry stated, trying to hide the hurt in his voice._

_"You went into this relationship knowing what my intentions were and what was okay and what wasn't." That made Harry even more confused. "I didn't want that cat. The responsibility and being completely tied down to the house and to one place in the world. You knew this."_

_"Excuse me? You were the one that brought up getting a cat in the first place. What is wrong with you? Did you hit your head?" Harry exclaimed, hands going down to his hips as he stared intensely at his husband._

_"I brought it up because you kept going on about how fucking cute babies are. 'Oh, honey, that one has dimples!' 'Look! I bet that baby loves going to the zoo' 'I wonder if we ever have a baby, if it will act like you or me' and I'm fucking sick of it! I thought this cat would get you to calm the fuck down but obviously it didn't do shit! We got that cat for no god damn reason because you're still a needy bitch!" The male snapped, voice raising with each sentence he spoke. He even mimicked Harry's deep voice as he spoke about what he had formally said before._

_It brought tears to Harry's eyes._

_"You're a dick." Is the only insult he could think about. "I never told you that you had to want kids. I never forced you into anything. At all. And you're getting mad at me for this?" He really really tried to sound angry but it came out more broken than anything else._

_"You want kids, am I wrong?"_

_Harry hesitated. This had to be a trick question._

_"Answer me!"_

_"Yes! Of course I want kids." Harry said finally and then just blushed, looking down to try and keep the tears in his eyes and not letting them escape down his cheeks onto the floor. He failed, however, as he watched one drip down to the tiled floor. "You know that.."_

_"Its either a kid or me, Harry. What's it going to be?" He spoke as if he was pushing Harry to make the worst decision. Like he wasn't angry just about this but he was searching for a way out._

_Harry shook his head. "No. No you're not doing this to me today. Absolutely not. What the hell is wrong with you?"_

_"Me? What's wrong with me?"_

_"Yes! You–you... I gave up a family life for you and you just–you just.. God, you make me feel like an idiot for doing that!" Harry snapped, looking up with red, tear rimmed eyes that glazed over with a fury Harry had never had before in his life._

_"Nothing is wrong with me! Its you! Do you think I love listening to you go on and on about kids, knowing damn well its because you want one, and making me feel like shit because I don't want something to care for? Jesus, you're a baby already, and you want to care for an actual baby? It'll be dead before it turns three!" By now it was as if it was a shouting match. The two of them were limited to shouting at each other._

_"Get out! You heartless asshole! Out of my house!" Harry shouted, pointing to the exit of the kitchen. "Out! Now! If you're not out of this damn house in five seconds, I'm going to call the cops." Its a drastic threat but he wasn't joking. He couldn't spend another minute with this man in his house._

_It didn't surprise him when his husband left the kitchen and went upstairs. What surprised him was he was up there for not even a whole minute and came down with a suitcase already packed._

_He obviously was hoping that Harry would kick him out of the house. Why he wanted to leave was beyond Harry and he didn't know what to say about it. So, he just turned his attention away and watched as Mr. Sprinkles slowly crawled into the kitchen, tail between his legs and eyes seeming to hold a bit of fear. So, he knelt down and just sniffles as he sat on the ground and pulled his kitten in his arms._

_"Hi, baby... Its just gonna be me and you for a while.."_


	2. Pickles And Dotty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,536

It turns out that 'a little while' turned into a lot longer than Harry had anticipated. He loved his husband but apparently that love hadn't been returned for about a year and he was done with Harry.

Apparently he wasnt done with that eighteen year old 'supposed artist', though.

Yeah, he left Harry for a younger lad who was really not doing anything in life and was a hippie with a paintbrush in his eyes. But, what can he do? Nothing, besides sign off on the divorce papers as they were shipped in the mail. It will most likely be on the headlines in the news.

_** 'Big Hollywood Movie Director Going Through Tough Divorce Raged On By An Affair Between One Side Of What Seemed To Be A Happy Couple.' ** _

Awful.

And how did he deal with it? Well... He got addicted to his little kitten. Mr. Sprinkles was the one thing that he had when going through all of this. The one thing that was trying to help mend his broken heart. Animals were just the greatest companions to have when going through such times because they love you no matter what. They don't judge you and they definitely don't leave you. They're always happy to see you and they depend on you and much as you depend on them, maybe even more than you depend on them. That's all Harry ever wanted and he got that with his precious baby.

But one day it just wasn't enough.

"You know what, Mr. Sprinkles?" Harry spoke to his little kitten that was now almost two months old. He sat on his sofa, signing small contract deals here and there after taking an hour to read over one and go through his terms and conditions on each one. "I think you need a friend."

The kitten meowed and Harry nodded solemnly. "I know, darling, I know. But this friend won't leave us. This friend will stay forever with us and bring great company. I promise."

Another meow was heard and Harry laughed. "That's my thoughts exactly."

Maybe he needed other human friends if he's speaking with his kitten and having full conversations. However, he had enough friends when he went to work because everyone he directed for was absolutely lovely and adored him as much, if not more, than he adored them.

Harry picked up Mr. Sprinkles and gently pet right between his ears as he walked over to the coat rack and shoved one of his Burberry coats on, fixing to hold the kitten from one arm to the next as he slipped his coat on. Then he just moved to get out of the house, locking it up behind him and then going down to the driveway to get in his Range Rover Sport.

He could have went in the garage and picked through his two other cars, a Ford Capri and a Ferrari California, but the Range Rover was the bigger car he could use to put an animal in the back with. And when he comes home, hopefully another added animal.

The drive to town was about fifteen minutes out since he made sure to live a good ways away so no one would be able to get to his estate with ease. It was even gated, added protection. He wasn't an actor, no, but he is credited enough to be a name spoken by the actors and actresses he works with and given awards on his films every now and again.

He had a total of two Oscars now, the biggest awards he's gotten at just the young age that he was. He was 28 years old now, won those awards when he was 25 and then 27. He was one of the youngest starting directors in Hollywood to win such awards early on in his career and he was proud of it. He worked hard to get where he was today.

Eventually Harry got to the pet store, getting out and tucking Mr. Sprinkles under his coat because he didn't want the poor thing getting cold. When he got inside, he went to the area where they held the cats and knelt down, letting Mr. Sprinkles peek out to see the other cats and kittens.

"Look, Mr. Sprinkles. Aren't they all just so lovely?" He asked with a small smile. He wanted to take all of these animals home with him, truly. They all deserved an amazing home and to be treated like royalty. However, he wasn't sure if he could handle twenty seven cats and thirty kittens all at once. Baby steps.

"Can I help you find something, sir?" A voice rang out and Harry looked up from his crouched position and saw a woman standing besides him, glancing down at him curiously.

"Hello." He greeted with a small smile. "I'm thinking of getting another kitten.. Someone to keep Mr. Sprinkles company."

"Mr. Sprinkles, I am assuming, is another cat you have?" The lady asked. Harry then stood up and opened his coat, revealing the head of Mr. Sprinkles poking out of the inside pocket of his coat. "Oh.. That was.. I wasn't expecting that."

"Well.. I had to bring him along. Can't have a kitten come back with me only to end up finding out they don't like each other." Harry explained before glancing back down at the glass where he can see the different cats.

"Understandable. I've got a bunny at home, doesn't like other animals all too well besides one of the bunny's we've got here. Strange how animals are always rather picky." The lady explained and Harry just gave a small laugh. He liked this girl. She was understanding. "Follow me, sir. I'll bring you back and show you the newest litter of kittens."

He didn't have to be told twice as he followed closely behind the lady. He was excited. He really wanted to have another animal in the house, always having that urge to really just protect and raise something. Someone, really, and he didn't want to have a child just yet. Not after being told he couldn't look after a child. So, he was kind of filling that with animals.

Once they got back to the room, Harry gasped at the different kittens held in a small pen that was large enough for them to hop around and play with each other.

"Oh, they're all so cute!" He gushed and moved to kneel down next to the pen and smiled a bit, taking Mr. Sprinkles out of his coat and setting him down besides him. He didn't want to put him in because he worried about their liking to one another.

"They're all named, already. So feel to ask about any of them and I'll let you know." The lady said and Harry nodded, glancing around all of them. Then his eyes settled on a pair that wasn't interacting much, just settled in the back and curled up against each other. His heart proper melted.

He reached in and grabbed one of the kittens out and cooed. "Hello, baby.. What's this one's name?" He spoke softly. It was an all black kitten except for the brown around it's right eye.

"Her name is Dotty."

"Dotty!" Harry said happily. It fit, he loved it. "What do you think, Mr. Sprinkles? I think I rather like Dotty." He said, gently holding the kitten down for Mr. Sprinkles to inspect. When he purred, Harry knew it was a good sign. "Alright.. We're s–awe!"

He was cutting himself off when he glanced down and saw the kitten that was formally curled up against Dotty meowing and trying to escape the pen. So, of course he reached in and pulled the kitten out as well, holding both to his chest where they instantly tried to curl around each other.

"Oh my goodness." He breathed out because he couldn't handle all the cuteness coming from them. Who was he to separate them?

"That's Pickles. Him and Dotty are from the same litter, they're the runts of the group. Never quite leave each others side." Harry glanced up at the lady and nodded at her words.

"Alright... So, I guess I've got to get both of them." He stated and then looked down at Mr. Pickles. "Its a package deal." He added softly, watching as the little kitten sat down and gave a small meow.

So, just like that, Harry got the two kittens into the backseat while Mr. Pickles got to sit in the front. He truly felt like this was starting to fill his heart, though. He was over the break up and divorce (no he wasn't) and he felt like that hole that was left in his heart and soul was being filled with the lovely company of love for these animals.

He craved for that hole to be filled with these animals. And he was sure that this was going to help. He needed to just get these new kittens to be a bit more used and comfortable to the house and then it would be like he never had someone leave him in the first place. To him, the plan was fullproof. He had love to share now and he had even more love that he could welcome back into his heart.

It just went downhill from there.

 


	3. Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,248

Harry was doing alright lately. It's been about three months since he's signed the divorce papers and two months since he's went to court. He didn't need anyone like he thought he used to. He was independent with his three kittens and his house.

Which, he figured was starting to get a little bland. Especially his living room. There was this large wall that only his two sofas took up and it was starting to look rather tacky. He would say that about the rest of the room but the opposite wall was lined with a large flat screen and a movie system and speakers and a table to hold all the movies he owned. Then in the corner was the fireplace. The the other wall was where the windows lined. Every wall was occupying something. Except this one wall.

Yeah, there were the sofas, but the walls were blank. He had thought to put photos up on the wall or maybe some cool paintings but... Everyone had that in their house nowadays. He wants to be original.

So that's how he found himself speaking with a contractor and discussing how to add a giant fish tank to line the wall.

~

"What kind of tropical fish do you have in stock?" Harry spoke on the phone as he sat on the floor of the living room, facing the newly put in fish tank. It glowed blue and purple colours and had amazing detail and decor but there were no fish. It looks great but its empty and Harry's planning to fix that.

"Well.. If those don't get along with each other, why would I want them? I don't want any fish fighting in my house." He stated through the phone again before he hummed, scribbling down some notes. "Okay... No, I don't want that kind of fish. They have too big of eyes, they're creepy. And quite frankly I am a bit offended you are offering ugly fish to me." He mumbled softly. Of course he was teasing at that last bit and he was thankful person over the phone just laughed and didn't take offense to that. He really wasn't an asshole.

Eventually Harry had finally been able to settled with an agreement on an assortment of fish he found suitable for his home. Tetras, Danios, Guppies, Mollies, Platies, Rasboras, Corys, Swordtails, Angelfish, Dwarf cichlids, and two plecostomus'. It sounded like such a magical school of fish to be put together in his new aquarium. He even added a clown fish, because Nemo, and a blue tang fish, because Dory.

It was settled. He has this beautiful fish tank built and he's going to get many beautiful little fishes to go along with it. It really blended the room together nicely and now Harry just had to paint the walls. Maybe a blue colour to mix with the blue and purple lights of the tank. Or maybe just a really light tan colour. No, he's going with egg white. Or maybe cream... It was obvious that he couldn't have any bright colors to clash with the blue and the purple. Wait. Maybe a dark colour will work. Maybe red.

And this is the very reason why Harry had his living room covered in tarp and had a professional painter coming to paint over his walls. He had to take his television down and everything off of the walls but that was alright.

"Okay, so what do you think works?" Harry asked as they layered down the different colors he had chosen. He had a cobalt, lapis and azure for the shades of blue. Then there was crimson, scarlet and ruby for the shades of red. Now finally he had frost, porcelain, chiffon and pearl for the shades of white.

"Well, personally I like the red shades better to clash with the glowing of the blue and the purple coming from that tank over there." The painter stated and Harry nodded along with what he had said.

"Yeah, I agree. Now we have to limit it to one of those." Harry added along and the two felt silent as they both carefully observed the two colours. However, at that moment, Dotty pranced into the room and then just curiously looked around the room before meowing.

Harry turned around and frowned. "Dotty, darling, I thought I put you and your–" and in pranced Pickles and Mr. Sprinkles. "...never mind. You smart kitties, how did you get out?" And with that, Harry leaned down and picked up Dotty, moving to grab for Pickles since he knew Mr. Sprinkles will listen to instructions like a good kitten and didn't need to be picked up.

He obviously thought wrong about that when he saw Mr. Sprinkles go over and stick his paw inside of the plate of the ruby red they had out.

"Mr. Sprinkles!" He scolded.

"Well... I guess we've got out colour now." The painter spoke and Harry just glanced up with a small smile. He was glad he had tarp on the floor because if not, they've had to steam clean the tile as well to get rid of the paint that Mr. Sprinkles thought would be great to get everywhere he stepped. Naughty kitten. 

"Watch him, please? I have to make a better trap for these two and then come back and give that naughty kitty a cleaning." Harry said softly.

"Of course. I'll get set up here with Mr. Sprinkles." The male said and Harry laughed softly, nodding. Then he walked off with Dotty and Pickles to get to their room downstairs. They had an entire kitten playroom with platforms and toys and beds with their individual names on it and he just didn't understand why they won't stay here. Its a palace for them, yet they want to go paint.

He leaned down and set the two kittens down, tsking slightly. "Now you two know very well that I hate shutting the door with you in here because you two like to cry. But I might have to now since you pushed my blockade enough to get free." He lightly spoke and then just gently pet the two little kittens with a small smile. They were so damn cute. After giving another small goodbye, he stood up and shut the door gently before heading back to fetch Mr. Sprinkles.

~

It all blended together perfectly. Harry was so proud about the fact that the walls really popped with the set of the room. Even when the blinds to the windows were open, the colour to the wall just shined beautifully. Needless to say, that painter got a very wealthy tip for his job well done. Not to mention the way the new found fish family that was now swimming freely around the fish tank since the timing clashed with the painting time, but it worked out rather well and that person got a nice tip as well for their inconvenience

However, Mr. Sprinkles managed to find a way to open the door and as the paint was drying, all the kittens ended up planting their paw prints on the wall with the pearl coloured white that was left out and well, Harry didn't really get too mad because it was cute. He decided to leave their little prints.

It was a stepping stone for all of them, documenting it on a wall was a great idea. It was unique and creative and he loved it. He didn't even get mad about the fact that the kittens managed to get loose again.

It was his little family.

 


	4. Beast, Layla and Chunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 2,104

It truly started out with a cartoon.

Harry was in his living room, Mr. Sprinkles on his lap and Dotty and Pickles curled up next to him. His feet were even on the coffee table which means he was truly exhausted from the day since he never allows anything on the coffee table unless its under a coaster or if it was a vase. The telly was on and he was flicking through the channels lazily before he saw it. It was a show called CatDog. Harry was astonished. How can a cat and dog be together when they have a history of hating each other? The show shows the hatred the cat and the dog have, the cat being more sassy and the dog just loving life. But they seem to never want to lose each other. It was sweet even though its truly just a silly children's show.

He wondered if that truly happens in the real world. There's always owners with cats and dogs but to his knowledge, the cat always thinks that it has to show dominance. He wonders if there is a way for a cat and a dog to just be friends and be equals instead of this fight for dominance and fight for the owners undivided attention all the time.

Then an idea popped into his head.

Harry looked down at the kittens and just smiled.

"I'm gonna do an experiment. You might not like it but its worth a shot." He spoke, picking up Mr. Sprinkles and putting him on the sofa, which caused him to give an unhappy sound before curling up against the sofa to get comfortable again.

"You kitties be good!" Harry stated as he stepped out of the living room and slipping his boots on his feet and his coat around his body. It was only a hoodie this time since he didn't want to wear anything too expensive. He was exhausted still and when he's exhausted, he tends to be clumsy. He wouldn't want to risk getting a tear in one of his lovely coats.

Harry took his Range Rover again and instead of going to the pet store, Harry went to their local pound. Dogs never get picked up from there and sometimes they get put to sleep and that just makes Harry so sad. They just want a life and want to be loved. That's all. Pet store animals have a great life but dogs that go to a pound have a caged and miserable life. This probably wasn't the best idea, though.

One dog. He's there for one dog.

Harry stepped into the shop with a can-do attitude and a wide smile on his face.

"Hello, sir. How can I -"

"Do dogs hate cats?" Is the first thing Harry said before he just blushed a bit. "Oh. Oops. I didn't mean to interrupt you, love. Sorry.."

The lady at the desk laughed softly. "Don't worry about it. And it depends on the type of dog and the owner of the animals. Some owners treat their animals as if one is superior and the other breed just doesn't like that. Or they train some dogs to be mean and they end up targeting cats because they're smaller and easy for dogs to control."

This information was just so interesting to Harry. How could someone purposefully make a dog or a cat mean so they can harm other animals? That's why most dogs get put to sleep. That's so sad.

"I have three cats. I wanted a dog. Wanted to first handedly make sure that there's always a way to get cats and dogs good and to be friends." Harry explained with a small nod. He seemed to miss the fond look on the girls face.

"Let me show you some puppies we have. Follow me to the back meeting room." She explained and smiled softly before stepping out from behind her station, grabbing a pair of keys and walking towards the back of the room. There were already cages of animals barking and meowing and there was even whining and Harry had to stay focused on his feet before he buys the entire building of animals. Once they got to the back, Harry let out a small breath of relief and glanced around. There were scattered toys on the floor that they have to possibly make the animals feel comfortable enough to play with the person visiting them.

"I'll be right back. One dog at a time?" The lady spoke and Harry turned to glance at her, smiling a bit.

"Yes, please."

With that, the lady was gone and Harry just walked over to one of the sofas set up in the room, sitting down, one leg crossing over the next as he waited. Not too long did he have to wait, though, before the door was opening and a small yellow labrador retriever was running in. The pup barked loudly and Harry just beamed.

"Hello!" He exclaimed, watching the lady unhook his leash. He instantly bolted to Harry, causing him to fall back against the sofa with a small 'ompf' but he was laughing nonetheless. "Oh, look at you! Hello, baby!" He cooed with a small smile as he tried to pet the hyper little pup. He loved this little one so much.

"He's a new addition. Found him on the streets about a week and a half ago." The lady stated and Harry looked up at her as his face was being attacked with kisses.

"Is he-" Harry had to push the pup off before continuing. He didn't want a tongue in his mouth. "Is he going to grow out of this hyper mode? My kittens are laid back. This might overwhelm them."

With that, the lady smiled rather sadly. "Labrador Retrievers are rather hyper dogs I. general. They're bred for hunting and swimming. Probably won't calm down until he's at least six, maybe. That's if you fatten him up." She explained with a small laugh.

Harry smiled a bit and then just nodded. He was a bit sad but he knew he couldn't take this beauty with him. "Alright.. Another?"

With that, the lady leashed the pup again and Harry waved goodbye with a small pout set on his lips. Goodbyes are always so hard. About a minute later, the door opened and the lady stepped in with another puppy. It was white with brown spots randomly on him and he was rather chubby and Harry was in love.

"This is our English Bulldog. He's been with us about three months. He was born here, his mother having given birth to a litter. He's the only one left." The lady said and unhooked the dogs leash. He trotted over to Harry and nudged his leg and Harry instantly lifted him up and cooed.

"Oh, he's so pretty!" He said happily, petting the wiggling mess in his lap. He was excited yet not too hyper and he knew this breed of dog tended to be a bit lazy. He was perfect. "I'll take him." He stated. Mainly because he didn't want anyone else coming and stealing the pup away.

The lady smiled and nodded. "Amazing! I'll go get the papers for you to sign." And with that, she turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Harry said and then just sheepishly looked down. He knew he was in love with this puppy already. He wanted more of that love. So, he made an excuse. "I mean... I've got three kittens. Might as well balance it out and get three dogs, right? It only makes sense.."

The lady rolled her eyes with a wide smile. "Of course. It's only fair." And with that, she walked out again.

Harry glanced back down at the puppy in his lap and just scratched behind his ear gently. "I'm gonna call you Chunk." He stated simply before just giving a small smile when the puppy moved his bum happily. He had no tail to wag so his bum just moved a bit. Harry deemed that as him approving of his name.

The door opened then and in walked the girl again with another puppy on a leash. "This one's two months old. Found him in a box close to death in an abandoned house." The girl spoke. It was a pittbull. Harry could recognize that much. However, he was so shy and he was adorable. "Blue nose, full bred."

"Oh, he's beautiful. I bet he'll do perfectly." Harry may have been a bit too straightforward with accepting this dog but he wanted to have another dog and the dog needs a home. It fits. "I want a girl now. Give me whatever dog fits with these two and I'll take her. I want to bring them home as soon as possible."

The lady seemed a bit shocked but she just nodded her head regardless. "Alright.. I'll get the next one and I'll find the papers for you to sign to take these lovelies home."

Harry nodded and then just held out a hand because he wanted the other baby boy that still seemed to have not gotten off of his leash. The pup was let off the leash at that and ran its way over, hopping up to the sofa but ended up falling onto his back because he just wasn't big enough yet. It made Harry coo and lean down to pick him up as well, letting the two puppies wiggle around on his lap as they got acquainted with one another.

"I'm gonna call you... Hm.." Harry trailed off. He had to figure out what to call the little one. He didn't seem like a normal name type of dog so that's out of the question. He also didn't seem like one for a far out name either. He knew that he was going to get rather big as well so he had to chose carefully.

"How about Chip?" He asked and the two dogs looked up at him for a second before going back to playing. "Alright. Not Chip. Buster? No, that's more for like small dogs. Zeus? No, that's too common for dogs... Uh... Beast? How about Beast? I like that. You'll grow into that name."

When he didn't get stared at again, Harry took that as a good sign. "Chunk and Beast. It fits." He laughed a bit and just gently pet at the two dogs. Then the door opened and in pranced another dog and Harry just gasped. She was absolutely stunningly beautiful. He didn't know what kind of dog she was but she looked a bit like Lady from Lady And The Tramp. But not entirely. One of his favourite movies. Aside from Oliver and Company, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Fox and The Hound, The Aristocats and Homeward Bound. He may have a small obsession with animals.

And babies. But that isn't something he liked to dwell on just yet. It was still too soon.

"She's beautiful..." Harry breathed out. The lady walked in after the puppy and just handed Harry a folder with a couple sheets of paperwork.

"Knew you'd like her. She's been looked at a couple times but no ones snatched her up yet. An Australian Shepherd." The girl said as she sat next to Harry and gently took Beast and Chunk to set them on the ground for the three of them to play with one another so Harry could have the room he needed to fill out each form he needed to be able to take the puppies home with him. He was excited about this. Truly. He's going to have new babies coming home with him. That's always exciting.

"She's beautiful. I'm glad that I'm able to take her home. She fits in with the others so well." Harry spoke as he moved his eyes over the multiple papers because he never signs anything he doesn't completely read first. These seem to be fine enough, though, so he was easily signing off on them and giving them their names to put on the certification of 'adoption'. Which he is going to frame and hang up in their room. He had two extra rooms downstairs, one is obviously going to them. He had more rooms upstairs but those weren't for animals. He had his room, a spare room, a library/office, and a guest room upstairs.

Harry glanced over when he finished and handed the papers over, keeping the certificates.

"There we go. You're all set now, Mr. Styles. I hope you enjoy your three additions. I don't want to see any of them back here for any reason." The lady said and Harry just smiled.

"Trust me, they're going to a lovely home."

 


	5. Atlas and Puck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,174

Harry's life was good. It's going good. He couldn't have asked for any better kind of company than with the animals that he had. They were his babies. Well, practice babies because it's not really like a real baby. Real babies need more attention and need constant care whereas animals kind of do their own thing their whole lives.

God, Harry wanted a baby. His ex really fucked his mind up saying the baby would be dead before three because he wouldn't be a good father. He'll show him. He'll show him that he can take care of whatever he wanted and not have them die on his watch. Then again, he still was shaken up at the thought of actually having a baby. He couldn't have one. Not yet.

He won't admit it but the animals are his gateway. He knew that if he could take care of as much as he could then the responsibility of having a child would be easy. It would be natural and the baby could grow up wonderfully and healthy.

That's the plan.

He still loves his animals, though, and would do anything for them.

Which is why he found himself back at the pet shop. He was in search of more food and toys and treats. Dotty would only eat the soft cat food that comes in the cans so he had to get a couple packs of that, Pickles ate Purina and Mr. Sprinkles only ate Blue. His animals were extremely picky. Well, except for the dogs. They'll eat anything. They like Iams most. So he gets a bag of that. The blue bag since it says its a healthy choice and weight control. He can't be letting his babies get obese because it wasn't good for their health at all.

Now came the treats. He pushed his full cart over towards the treat isle but on the way he had to stop because there were the small glass rooms for the rodents and he just had to coo. He loved watching the little hamsters run on their wheels so fast that their legs all but disappear. He also loved watching the way that some like to stand against the glass and he could see their little paws and–

"You're back."

Harry jumped a bit and turned to look at the same lady that had sold him Dotty and Pickles and the same lady that seemed to work here every time he had to come buy food. He learned her name was Liza. He pronounced it Lisa for an entire day and she didn't correct him until a coworker pronounced it differently and he left with about a thousand apologies.

"I am. Who knew six animals could eat so much. And who knew I could get rid of treats like their cookies in a classroom of four year old kids." He stated, making Liza laugh.

"I get it, because the kids would eat them in a minute. That's funny." She stated and Harry just grinned. He loved when people found him funny. "I couldn't help but notice that you always watch them when you're here. Would you like to hold one?"

Harry glanced back at the rodents with a small smile and just pointed down to the larger area that held the guinea pigs. "That one seems to be so calm compared to the rest. Can I see him?" It was a white and grey guinea pig that was so small that he could most likely fit about three in his hand. Then again, his hand was large.

Liza nodded and knelt down, using a key from the lanyard around her neck to unlock the glass and slid one side of it open, the guinea pigs practically scattering to take cover. Which, obviously Harry found adorable.

"Come here, boy. There we go, don't be scared. This is Mr. Styles." Liza said as she finally got the guinea pig out and gently handed him to Harry, who was practically jumping up and down. "I think Mr. Styles needs to calm down, too, huh?"

With that said, Harry just blushed. "He's cute. Sorry. I'm good." And then he held the cute little guinea pig up to his chest, having it scatter a bit and hide itself in his hair and god, he melted. "I do hope you're not planning on me giving him back..."

"Are you serious?" Liza spoke because Harry looked completely serious. "I think you may have got an obsession there, Harry."

Harry just shrugged. "Its better than being addicted to cocaine or methamphetamine or heroine or PCP or–"

"Alright! Alright. I got it." Liza laughed out and held her hands up in defense. "But just.. Are you completely _sure_ about this? If you are, you need to purchase a cage and bedding and hay, their primary source of food, vitamins for their water, their actual food pellets. A dome for their comfort. And their cages normally have to be cleaned out twice a week and feed at least three times a day and they like to scream sometimes, which sounds like a very high pitched squeak. They're very needy animals."

Harry listened intensely before he just nodded his head solemnly. "Well, we better get all that stuff, then. And you said they're needy animals, yes? Why not get two so he doesnt get lonely."

Liza looked at him as if he was a bit crazy bit he was a customer and she could only just nod and help him with whatever he wanted. "Right.. Soon enough your house is going to be a zoo, you know."

"I've always wanted a zoo."

He was a lost cause.

~

"Alright, Atlas. Puck. This is your new home." Harry stated as he stelled back after finally setting up their cage in the spare room downstairs. They didn't exactly have any more rooms downstairs and it kind of saddened him because that meant a limited amount of new animals could come. If any new animals were able to come, that is.

Atlas was the white and grey guinea pig he first held and the others name was Puck, who was a black and brown guinea pig. They both were males. He wanted a boy and a girl but upon being told that they could mate and have twenty babies a time, which he thought wasn't possible but Liza insisted it was, he decided to go with two boys instead. Twenty baby guinea pigs would overwhelm him.

The room still seemed to bland, though, even if he had the guinea pigs in there. It was en entire room with only one cage in it. It just didn't see fair. But, Harry had spent as much as he planned to today, even if he had more than enough money to really buy a zoo if he wanted. So, he just smiled down at the guinea pigs and walked back out to the living room.

"Oi! Off the sofa! What have I told you, Beast? How did you even get up there?"


	6. Ace and Jinx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,199

This was all an accident.

It wasn't supposed to happen, truly. Harry was supposed to go to a Gala for a new movie he was helping direct within the next year or two. Maybe more. It takes quite some time to film a movie especially with special effects and the technical aspects as well. Plus, the movie he's doing has to have a lot of added effects with it since it's a continuum of Jurassic Park. He loved those movies and he loves Chris Pratt so to work with him is going to be rather great.

An example of such effects would be the gyrosphere, there's not glass on it due to it being reflective and the small fact that the actors could suffocate. So, they have to add the glass in for the movie by the techs that handle such things. And the dinosaurs, of course, aren't real at all.

The Gala was being held close to a set, outdoors, and there were tables around set up with offers and if they wanted to sign for donations and such like that. Of course it was mainly animal causes and Harry just had to sign his name for all of them. Except, he didn't even recognize that two of the twelve he was signing was for a chance to adopt an otter and the next was to adopt a pig. He didn't read those through. Who would? He thought it was all donations, not adoptions. He should have wondered why no one really signed for those sheets. Only about three, including himself, for both of them.

He really thought he was done with the animals. He had three rooms for three different kinds of pets and he was happy. Its been a while and now he barely thinks about negatives of life because he always had an animal to care for or an animal wanting to play with him. It was a good life. There's nothing better he could think of.

However, when his name was being called up for how generous he was being, Harry thought nothing of it and just went up there, ready to make a speech about the donations but then he was being thanked for his kindness of giving two animals that were abandoned a home and he froze and looked at the lady with wide eyes.

Then again... Harry wasnt the kind to make a scene somewhere in front of the many people he will have to work two years with. So, he just did a nervous chuckle and nodded, waving a hand amd proceeding to make up a gratitude speech and how honoured he was to be given the chance to give back and even give a home to two animals.

Then when he got home, he found out the animals were, out of all things, an otter and a pig. Who was he to know such thing. Normally Harry was so good at reading fine print multiple times over before he signed something but he thought everything was donation. God, never again.

Then again, who was Harry to not accept animals? Even when it was an accidental donated signature of him.

Who gives away such exotic animals, though, was his question. What in the world is he going to do with an otter and a pig? Where were they going to stay? Are they even compatible with other animals? He's screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.

So, he did some research. The animals were scheduled to be delivered within the next week so he had a lot of work to get done.

~

"Back already, Mr. Styles?" Liza spoke as she saw Harry aimlessly wandering around the store with the worlds most confused look on his face.

Harry didn't bother looking up at her as he spoke. "Yeah. What do pigs eat?"

Liza stopped for a moment. "Don't tell me you got a pig.."

"I didn't." Was Harry's answer. "I may have sort of, kind of, maybe, unintentionally, accidentally, signed off to take one while trying to donate to some places." He just mumbled lower and lower as he spoke because he knew Liza would probably scold him about it.

But she didn't. No, she started laughing instead.

"You adopted a pig without realizing?" She laughed out. "Do you not read anything you sign? Oh, this couldn't get any better."

When Harry said nothing, she slowly stopped laughing. "Oh... Oh no. Its worse?" She asked, Harry's nodding. "How worse? Like... No space worse?" Harry nodded slowly and looked away and Liza just knew there was more. ".. Is it more than one pig?"

"Kind of.."

"More than one animal?"

Harry was silent.

"Oh, Jesus." Liza shook her head. "What animal? A fucking horse?"

"An otter."

Liza just lost it after that, having to walk out of the aisle that Harry was in to try and not embarrass Louis even though her laughter was loud enough for the whole store to hear her. Harry just crossed his arms with a small pout as he waited for the employee to calm down and actually help him with his problems.

He found himself memorizing Liza's schedule so every time he went to the store, she would be there to help him. He liked the girl. Obviously not a romantic like, but a friend like. She was real, she wasn't fake like most people who weren't of a higher status were towards him.

When Liza seemed to have done an entire lap around the store to laugh with anyone else who will laugh with her, she finally made it back to Harry and just placed her hands on her knees and doubled over to catch her breath.

"Are you quite finished?" He asked, hands against his hips as he waited for Liza to get herself under control. He didn't see how this was so funny, to be honest. He didn't mean to buy these animals but what's he gonna do now? He can't return them. Maybe this was even a sign of God telling him that he needed two more animals.

"Oh, god. Honey, you don't find what you need in here. You need to go to a zoo or something for that. I don't even know an otter's diet or even a pigs for that matter." Liza finally spoke up which made Harry groan.

"I'm not ready for this." He mumbled softly before shaking his head a bit.

"Try to build like.. Something for the two of them. You know? Little homes for both of them." Liza stated and shrugged. "A pig pen and a little shack for the otter. Install cooling and heating. Open the pool up for the otter because they have to swim and such. I think. I don't know. They're always swimming at the zoo.

Harry nodded slowly. "That sounds great. And I'll do research since you seem to know nothing about what I need done. Useless. Absolutely useless."

Liza laughed softly. "Get out of here. Stop adopting animals! You're literally the crazy animal lady."

Harry just laughed and when he left the store, he instantly called up a contractor. He needed to have a plan before these animals come to his house.

 


	7. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,139

"No! No no no. That's not going to work. You're next to a raptor, Vincent. You can't just flinch. You're terrified and you are astonished all at the same time." Harry spoke and stood from his chair, walking over to them. "Omar, you're doing great. Keep that up. Great expressions, I can read everything off your face that I need and its brilliant. You're really getting into your character. You're Barry and I love it. Great work. Vincent. You're not Vincent anymore. You're Hoskins. Okay? No more Vincent. We don't know who that is, okay? Be Hoskins. Now.. Show me how you can he scared and excited at the same time."

The man, Vincent, nodded and then did a small stumbling motion back with his hands held up. Harry shook his head.

"No. No that's your actions. I don't need actions. I need expressions. I need character. I need the emotion, not the action. Okay? Again."

In filming, its easier to do the ending before they go to the beginning. That's how every movie was filmed. It gets filmed backwards. They were just finished with the large ending and they were at the scene where Hoskins first gets to meet and tries to touch the Raptors. He did great emotionally those last few scenes but he just seemed a bit off at this scene and Harry honestly wasn't sure why.

Before they could do anything else, there was a calling of his name and Harry glanced over from where he stood on set. People knew not to mess with him in his directors chair but if he was up, it was free game.

"Mr. Styles? You've got a phone call on line one." The females voice spoke and Harry frowned.

"Tell them I'm busy."

"I really think you want to take this one, sir."

Harry groaned. Then he glanced around. "Take five." He stated before moving to go off set and went to the nearest phone he could pick up. When he did, he clicked the line number one and then held the phone to his ear. "Styles. How can I help you?"

"Harry Styles?" A female voice asked and Harry frowned.

"Yes ma'am. Harry Styles. Again, how may I be as of assistance?" He spoke. He wasn't expecting any phone calls. Well... Not that he really remembered anyways.

"Yes. This is Jillian from the adoption agency. You had sent in an adoption form a month ago and I'm here to let you know we have a follow up appointment for you to come in for an assessment."

Shit.

 _Shit_.

Okay. He was expecting a phone call. That was over a month ago and he thought the process took a lot longer to get a consolation. He decided then at that time that maybe he would want more than just animals. The ones he has are doing more than alright and they have a simple system down for a daily basis. It was going great and Harry overcame his fear of protecting a child of his own. Being able to raise an actual human being rather than another animal.

"Harry?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm here. I'm.. Wow. Yeah. That sounds great!" Harry finally spoke up once more and just reached a hand up to nervously chew on his nails.

"Great. So, we have you scheduled down for this Thursday at three in the afternoon. Building three. Scheduled with the adoption counselor Louis Tomlinson. Does that sound good?"

Harry nodded eagerly before he realized that no, this lady couldn't in fact see him at all.

"Yes! Yeah, that sounds great. Louis Tomlinson, building three, Thursday at three in the afternoon. Noted. I'll be there. Most definitely. Thank you so much for this." He babbled out, the lady over the phone just giving a small laugh.

"Of course, Mr. Styles. We look forward to helping you got your own little bundle of joy. Thank you for your application. Have a lovely day."

And just like that, there was the sound of the dial tone and Harry shakily hung up his own phone. It took about three seconds of silence before he started to shout happily.

"Mr. Styles! Is everything alright?" The same lady that spoke about the phone call came quickly over. He just grinned and went to her, grabbing her shoulders.

"I'm going to be a dad!"

~

It was Thursday. It was Thursday. Harry couldn't get out of bed fast enough. Well, actually he could because he ended up getting completely tangled up in his blanket and falling straight out of bed on his face. Harry grumbled and kicked around for a moment before he was finally able to get up, glancing down at the blanket half on and half off he bed and then just dismissed it to run to the bathroom. He'll deal with that later. He had more pressing matters to attend to today.

Like the matter of getting presented perfectly. He hopped in the shower, making sure to use his tropical mixed shampoo and his mango conditioner with a soap that smelt like coconuts and essential oils. Overall, he smells like an island and he loved it. Its his 'good impression' smell because who doesn't like tropical islands?

Next... How does he dress for this? Does he go with casual? Or does he go with professional? Maybe a tuxedo? No.. That's too fancy. A suit? Maybe? No... How about a coat? Maybe that could be a save route to go because he doesn't want to seem too casual but not too dressed up either.

Next came the hair. How does he do that? His hair is long so he couldn't quiff it back. Damn. Maybe just blow dried? No.. No, he's going to put it in a bun. That's the best he can do with what he's got.

And... It's nine o'clock.

He had six hours left. Okay, maybe he got a bit too ahead of himself. Okay. That's fine. He has time to make breakfast and feed his animals and maybe watch a movie or two. He'll be fine.

Harry walked down the stairs, looking around for a moment and  then going into the kitchen. He rang a small bell before he heard nails clicking against the tile, smile crossing his face as one by one his dogs and cats were starting to come to the kitchen, all of which say in a one from smallest to biggest. He teaches them all tricks on his free time. What else is he going to do?

"Look at you, lot! So well behaved and beautiful! Every single one of you!" He exclaimed, his voice as if he was speaking to small children. Well, they were his small children if you want to get technical.

Harry made every bowl of food preferred for each animal. Dotty got a bowl of sofa cat food, tuna flavoured of course because his animals get only the best, pickles got his bowl of Purina cat food, Mr. Sprinkles got his bowl of Blue cat food. Then the dogs got their customary bowls filled with Iams. He stood back up and let all of the eat before he went down to the hallway and going into one of the room and grinning when he saw the little tube tunnels around the room and the cages in place. He looked around for a moment before he found Atlas and Puck and then grabbed a handful of hay he bought from the store and put it in the cage as well as their food pellets and a couple yogurt treats.

"Good morning, my darlings. You two are getting rather large, lately, you need to exercise. That's why I bought all of these colourful tubes. You two never run around anymore." He spoke to the two little guinea pigs and watched as they both went towards the food and started to munch on all they were given.

Then Harry stood back up again and walked out of the room, going to the fridge again, careful not to step on any feasting animals. He made the mistake of accidentally bumping into Layla while they were all eating and she about ripped his leg clean off his body. Not really. She snapped at him but she didn't actually bite him at all and she felt guilty after she snapped and just whined until she was pet and forgiven.

His dogs aren't mean. None of his animals are. He trained them well.

Harry's grabbed a container from the fridge and then moved to step back out of the kitchen and went outside, smiling a bit as he saw two shacks. The little pig was out in its pen, rolling around in the dirt. He named him Ace. He was such a cute little thing and he was so playful. He didn't regret getting him.

Then he glanced over to the other side where he had a small, built in swimming area blocked off and another little shack. There, swimming, was Jinx. His sneaky little otter. He didn't want the animal swimming in his pool so he built him his own tiny swimming area for him to lounge in when needed. Then he got his pool professionally cleaned just in case and now they were both good. They had their little sections and Harry had the rest of the yard.

He walked over to Jinx's enclosure and after unlatching it and stepping in, he closed it again. He smiled when the otter jumped from the water and waddled over and just cooed. "My little boy! Hello, cutie! Want some breakfast?"

Jinx only just stared up at Harry, his little nose twitching and Harry just melted. He opened the container and set it down for him. It had fish and shrimp and crustations. That's his diet, he learned after visiting the zoo. He does also get some watermelon here and there if he's a good boy.

Next, Harry left the enclosure and latched it back up before strolling to where Ace was and just going through the gate to the pen. "Well. Aren't you a mess, my little flower. Have to give you a hose down later, yeah? Did you finish all of your food?" He asked. It was vegetables that Harry sets out fresh every three days because it seemed easier to leave the food for him to eat over the days rather than refilling and refilling because that boy gets hungry and he'll squeal all night for food if need be.

Harry moved to step inside the shack and saw there was still food for him so all he did was use the hose to fill the water container. He felt a nudge at his ankle and glanced down, the little pig making the cutest snorting noises and Harry couldnt help but to squat down and just give him a small pet.

"You know... I always thought pigs were ugly." He stated before laughing. "I was wrong, though, because you're absolutely adorable. Maybe it's just because you're a baby. Maybe you'll get ugly with age... I'm joking! Don't look at me like that."

With one final pet to the little pig, Harry stood up again and then stretched his arms over his head. He walked out of the enclosure and then latched that up before heading back inside, shutting the door. He looked over and saw the empty bowls of food and just picked them up, storing them away. He rang the bell again and the animals were right back in their spots again.

"Now listen. I'm gonna go meet with someone today and hopefully we'll be right on track to getting you lot a little human to protect with all your hearts, yeah?" He spoke to the animals. As if they would be able to actually understand and listen to the words he was saying about the adoption process. "A little baby of my own. So you lot best be on your best behavior. I don't want to come home and have my couch cushion torn to shreds. Beast, I'm looking at you. Don't think I forgot that week where you decided to rebel against me. Costs me two grand that week, you did."

As if being scolded, the Pitbull lowered his head and Harry just grinned and knelt down to gently pet him. "Oh, its alright. That was a while ago. You're my good boy now." He stated. Then he stood back up. "That's all. Released." And at that, they scattered out of the kitchen. Harry grinned and then went to the living room, easily feeding the large fishtank with the food flakes needed before he sat down on the sofa and faced the telly.

Now its time to eat his nails off in nerves and wait until he was able to leave the house for this meeting.

 


	8. Oops! Hi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,223

Walking in the building was like Harry had started an entire new chapter of his life. He could almost hear the page turning in his mind the second he stepped inside. To his left was a waiting area, a couple women sitting there, some with a male next to them. Those women are the ones that he feels the most for. They either are unable to conceive or have no other option. He can't imagine how he would feel if he was a woman and the one thing he was supposed to do right was have a child and he wasn't able to do so.

Then again, there are women that just find adoption a better suit than having children of their own. Gives the unwanted children a loving home. It was sweet.

Harry looked to his right ad there was the reception desk. So, he slowly walked over to it and smiled softly at the woman behind it as she glanced up.

"Hello... Uh... Do I have to, like.."

"Sign in?" The woman finished for him and he sheepishly nodded his head. "Yes, hon, now what's your name?"

"Styles. I-I mean, sorry. Last name is Styles. Not my first name. I meant to say, like, my first. But it came out my last. Force of habit. I didn't mean..."

"Harry Styles?" The lady once again saved him from a lifetime of embarrassment. "I've got you right here. For Louis Tomlinson, yes? He's very very sweet and understanding. Great starter counselor as well. Don't be so nervous, either, lovely. I'm sure you'll be able to be in line to have a little one soon enough."

Harry smiled thankfully. Was everyone that works in this field so nice? He loved the way they spoke and treated everyone. Even the lady over the phone. How Warming and comfortable.

"Thank you, ma'am." He said.

"Oh, no problems, dear. Now, I've logged you in so he knows that his three o'clock is here and so he's ready for you. We just need you to fill out these forms. State any health issues you may have, any living accommodations you may have with having a baby around, address of your home, line of work, personal information, contact information of anyone else that may be involved with the adoption process.. Etcetera." The lady spoke as she attached a couple sheets of paper to a clipboard and grabbed a pen as well to hand him. Harry took it with a small nod and looked over it all. Then he glanced back up and gave another nod, this being a thank you nod.

Harry walked to the seating area and just sat down in an empty chair in one of the corners, starting to sign the papers.

 **Name:** _Harry Edwards Styles_

 **Date Of Birth:** _February, 1st of 1994_

 **Age:** _29_

**Title:**

Harry stopped at that one. He knew that he would have to out Mr. but he knew that the question was based off of marriage and he hated it. So, within a fit of rage, he answered.

 **Title:** _Cheated on, divorced and single. Mr._

Proud of that answer, he went on answering. Medical conditions was the only thing that he had to pause on. He had a bad back and the doctors claimed it was a spine induced pain but he was never diagnosed with anything specific. Should he mark that down or wait and ask the counselor when he sees him? He'll wait and ask. Line of work, easy. Address, easy. Financial state, easy. Former work and living arrangements to current situation, easy. Availability for activities, negotiable. Contact information for partner... Resort back to the Title. Perfect.

Then came living accommodations... Well, his work, maybe. But he could always hire a sitter and he's never gone for more than seven hours when he needs to leave. He's the director, he can make his own schedule. As long as he has a say in the final product and as long as he can fix a scene here and there, it will be just fine.

That question also should include animals, shouldn't it? So, he quickly scribbled down that he had 'a couple animals' because he didn't know if he had to be specific.

He also marked that he had a pool. That's important. But he could fence it off.

After everything was written out and signed, Harry stood back up and walked to the receptionist and handed over the pen and clipboard, smiling softly at her.

"Excuse me? Do you know where I can locate the loo?" He asked politely. The lady nodded and gave him instructions on where he go before she was taking the clipboard back. Harry thanked her softly before heading in the direction of where he was to go.

Apparently this was the only loo for their office and as Harry walked in, he saw there being two stalls and two urinals with three sinks. It was rather small. He wondered if the woman's entrance was as small as it was in there. He walked to the urinals and unzipped his trousers, placing a hand on the wall in front of him as he started to take his wee. He didn't even hear another person walk in until there was suddenly a voice right next to him.

"Its absolutely ridiculous, is what it is, Mike."

And that made Harry jump a bit and turn to the male next to him and oh god.

 _Oh god_.

He forgot he was weeing.

Harry gasped and instantly shot back, thanking god that he was done and only a couple drops landed on the others arm. But still.

"Oops! Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. Jesus, I didn't mean to do that. Oh, I-I.. Let me get you some napkins or something. God, I'm so sorry. You just startled me. I didn't.. I didn't even realize that you were–and I just–" Harry babbled out before he quickly zipped himself back up and then went to grab for a couple napkins and walking back over to the man. He had put his phone away at this point so he was no longer talking on it and took the napkins Harry gave him. Then the man started to laugh and glanced up at Harry.

"Hi! Guess that's a great way to start a conversation." He stated, humorous eyes looking right up into Harrys embarrassed eyes. "Don't worry about it. I can always just wash me arm. It didn't get on my suit so I'm just grateful for that, eh?"

Harry was going to die. He blushed darkly and just glanced away. Those blue eyes were just so kind yet overwhelming and it made him want to just run out and scream.

"Mate, its really okay. Accidents happen. Chin up, yeah?" The man said again. "Its alright. Come on, wash up. I'm sure you're here for something important. Don't want to miss that, yeah?"

With that, Harry just nodded and they both went to the sinks, Harry washing his hands quickly while the other male washed up to his elbows since his short was rolled up and buttoned just above his elbows.

After Harry finished his washing up, he just left the bathroom without another word and sighed heavily. He hoped to never see that person again. God, the embarrassment.

 


	9. You Have How Many?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,118

Harry was anxious. Extremely anxious. This was the equivalent to going to the showing of a movie he produced with the actors and getting judged on the techniques and the storyline of what the movie consists of. By actual movie critics and other famous stars that go to these events. Even his mum and sister and father sometimes show up. Well. He can count on his sister because she pries in all of his business even though she's up in South Shields and he's in Holmes Chapel and frequently visits London when he needs to go on set. Sometimes even Scotland when they need a more classical view and better architecture for some of the things needing to tape.

Now he's off topic.

His movies are like his babies. But this was an actual baby. A human being. Something that doesn't make him money, it takes his money. Something that he keeps and helps grow instead of putting it out for the world to see and watch it grow on the charts.

So, really, its the same thing.

"Harry Styles?"

Harry's head shot up as his name was called and stood up immediately, looking at the lady at the front reception desk.

"Mr. Tomlinson is available for you to head on back. He's through that glass door and on the left, his name will be ingraved on one of the wooden doors. You can't miss it." She explained as Harry walked over, smiling up at the male. "Oh and Mr. Styles! I wish you the best of luck."

Harry smiled gratefully and nodded, standing straight and walking through the glass door, looking around as he took slow and careful steps further down the hallway. He'd expect it to be more claustrophobic in here, for some reason. Narrow hallways and large doors that seem overwhelming. Or maybe he was thinking of a haunted house. Either way, they both gave him the same feeling right now. Even if it was fairly open and had light casting in through the large windows and the doors weren't huge, they were in fact rather light in a brown colour as well. Its all very inviting.

Eventually, Harry was able to find the right door with the name he needed to see, only three doors down with two more ahead. Harry took in a deep breath, chest puffed out before he slowly released it again and then just pushed open the door slowly.

"Mr. Tomlins—" he cut himself off when he opened the door the rest of the way and the man standing from his chair actually registered in his brain.

No fucking way.

"Oh, hi! Wee boy!" Louis said with a wide grin. "What a coincidence, innit? Didn't peg you as the type to be open for adoption. I assumed you were here with your wife to follow up on your adoption prior to achieving your family. You look like a family guy already. Guess it suits you."

Shut up. This isn't happening. Holy shit.

"Sit! I don't bite. Promise. This is a safe environment and what happens in here, stays in here until given permission to bring it elsewhere." Louis added and then just sat down in his chair again, offering an arm out to motion to one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Harry blinked his eyes a bit and then just slowly shut the door behind him. He gulped and with shaky limbs, he was moving to go take a seat in one of the chairs.

"So, your name is Harry Styles. Well, Harry Styles, let's go over your report first, shall we?" Louis spoke and grabbed the clipboard from his desk, taking the papers off of it and setting the clipboard back down. He flicked his eyes over the paper for a moment and hummed. "So you're a single parent, then?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir. I uh.. I kind of plan on being a single parent for a while. Not looking for anyone at the moment. Dont want any distractions."

"From raising a child?"

"Well, yes. Of course. And also because uh.. Well, as you can see from the report, I'm a movie producer for some of Hollywood's movies? Its.. Its a hard job sometimes. But it has flexible hours and I could easily take time off. I wouldn't want to travel to California or anywhere else when I have a newborn child." Harry explained easily. As if he rehearsed this a million times in his head in the waiting room.

As if.

Louis gave a small nod and just kept glancing over the paper silently for a couple more moment. Harry couldn't help but think how unprepared this counselor seems to be. Shouldn't he have looked over this before Harry came in?

"Your medical issues... Care to enlighten me on that?" The man finally spoke and Harry had to take a second. Did he answer the question? He didnt remember.

"Uh... Well, Mr. Tomlinson, I've not got anything worth worrying about. My spine has a couple issues but I wear a brace now and again and the medicine helps as well when needed. Nothing extremely major." Harry spoke softly, hands in his lap fumbling a bit together.

"Hm.." Louis nodded. "Next time put that.. Answers left blank don't exactly fly around here even if its for a paper cut you got this morning and nothing else."

Harry blushed darkly and just nodded. "Yes, sir."

Louis glanced over at his computer and easily started to type in. He didnt even have to look at the keyboard to do so which made Harry envious. He had at least seventeen typos in a four word sentence if he didn't look at the keyboard. and Louis typed fast. This man couldn't be real.

"Alright. You seem stable. Credit is in line, past records don't see you as a threat to having someone else with you. Very stable job." Louis commented. "You can support a child from the written Documentation aspect. I just have one concern. Animals. You said you have a couple? Babies and animals can be a dangerous combination, you see?"

Harry nodded slowly. "I understand. But my animals are trained and some even live outside.." He tried explaining. If this is what doesn't get him his dream, he might just cry right there.

"A couple outside? You have how many?" Louis asked, starting to type away at the computer again.

"In total? I have... Ten. And then a fish tank." Harry stated after a moment of mentally counting each animal. Louis stopped typing then and just looked over at Harry with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Ten? Are you serious?"

Harry frowned. "Yes.. I-I know its a lot. But they're –"

"What kind of animals?"

"Um... Well... I've got an aquarium of tropical fish built into the wall in my living room. A child wouldn't be able to touch or get hurt from it." Harry said softly. He was getting extremely nervous now. By Louis' expression, he doesn't think that this will end well for himself.

Keep it together Harry.

"Aquariums aren't normally a problem with children. Its the animals that have access to roam a house and access to where a child may be." Louis spoke before waving a hand to get Harry to continue.

Harry just gulped. "I have.. I have three cats. Three dogs. Two—"

"What breed of dogs?" Louis cut him off, typing away once again at the computer. Yeah, Harry didnt like this at all.

"Uh.. Um.. They're..." He trailed off. He couldn't seem to remember because he was more worried about the way his heart was racing and he may have a sudden asthma attack stemmed on by a panic attack.

"Harry?"

"Just—just give me a moment. Please." Harry spoke softly and glanced down to the floor, letting his hands hold onto his thighs and he closed his eyes.

Louis' eyes softened a bit and he just stood up from his chair and walked around to sit in the chair opposite of Harry, placing a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades.

"Hey... Calm down, mate. You're alright. Do you need some water? Maybe a tea? The warm may relax you. I can even put on some music if it'll help you calm down. I've got classical." Louis spoke softly. All he got was a nod from Harry. He wasn't sure what the nod was for so he just decided it was a yes to everything. He went behind his desk and grabbed out a water bottle in a drawer, setting it on his desk and then clicking away at his computer to put music on. Then he just stood back up again. "Hang tight. I'll be right back. Drink the water, mate, okay?"

Harry didnt respond. He heard the door clicking shut after a second and he just put his head in his hands. He couldn't do it. If his animals are going to be a problem, he wouldn't know what to do. He would never get rid of them. He would never even think of doing anything to them. But he also wanted a baby. He guessed it just wasn't meant to be.

Louis came back into the room, a mug with steam coming from it in his hands. He set it down on the desk in front of Harry and smiled. "I've got milk, cream, sugar and honey. Take your pick." He stated and then went behind his desk again.

"H-honey, please." Harry mumbled softly and Louis nodded. He grabbed a small tube in the shape of a bear filled with honey and set it out before shutting the drawer again. He watched as Harry slowly made the tea the way he liked before sipping it.

"Alright. We better now, mate? All good?" Louis asked softly, waiting for the nod from Harry before he continued. "Now. There's no need to be nervous, okay? Its just simple questions. If there's any problems, we'll talk them through. I'm here to help get you a child. Not tell you can't have one."

Harry looked up at Louis before he nodded slowly and set the cup back down, leaning back against the chair. The music and the warm tea did help him feel more relaxed. Louis knew how to handle the situation very well and his voice was soothing and sweet, too. That helped.

"Okay. Good. Now. What breed of dogs do you have?" Louis got right back to business.

"One's an English Bulldog. One's an Australian Shepherd. One's a pittbull." Harry answered softly. Louis slowly nodded and typed those answers in.

"Okay. We have a problem. Just a small problem. Dont freak out. With the pittbull, there's a problem with them and children if they haven't grown together. Even then its a hazard. They're labeled as mean dogs. The meanest. Leading in front of Rottweilers and German Shepherds." Louis explained. "I'm not sure the environment with such an animal could be the ideal living arrangement."

Harry's eyes widened. "No! No, he's good!"

"A boy as well? Very territorial." Louis added.

"Listen. I know the stereotypes of pittbulls. I do. Of course I do. But they're just that. They're stereotypes. Pittbulls are only mean if they grow up in harsh environments. In fact, they're the most protective breed of dogs and won't hurt the child, instead they'll protect the child and could hurt others before it hurts them. Its a proven fact, Mr. Tomlinson, I swear." Harry babbled out.

Louis was still typing on his damn computer. Harry reached a hand up to bite at his nails.

"You were about to name the other animals?"

Harry sighed. "Two guinea pigs, an otter and a pig."

Louis glanced over. "An otter and a pig. Are you joking? Thats so c—" he cut himself off. "Um.. I dont know the habits of either animals so I'm going to have to do some research. We're going to have to do a house visit to check on the housing arrangements and see if its fit for a small baby and child and do a routine check on the animals you have. It'll be a long process."

Harry nodded easily. "Of course. Any time." He said instantly. "My house is open whenever. And I can promise you that my animals are trained and wouldn't hurt a fly."

"We'll see about that." Louis said and just smiled and stood up, reaching a hand out. "Look forward to doing this process with you, Harry Styles."

Harry stood and shook Louis' hand as well and nodded. "Me too, Louis Tomlinson. Have a nice day."

"I will. Dont go weeing on other people, aye?"

That made Harry groan.

 


	10. Want To Take A Look Around?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,962

It turns out that Louis was going to do the visits to Harry's house. And that visit couldn't have been at a worse time. Harry was in the middle of a scene when his personal cell phone rang, ruining the entire cut and it made him groan.

"Cut! Fucking shit! That was going so god damn well!" Harry shouted in anger and pulled out his phone. "Julie! Next time make sure my phones on damn silent!" He shouted again. The girl off to the side just nodded quickly and scribbled in her notebook what Harry just wanted of her. Even though Harry's phone was in _his_ pocket and it wasn't anyone's responsibility other than his. He should know better but he just wanted to blame someone.

"Chris, Bryce, do that scene once more. I'm sorry. I've got to take this. You're both doing great. Amazing work on being frightened, Bryce, you're doing amazing, darling. Chris, you're fucking killing it. Again." He instructed before he walked off and away from the set, grass and leaves crunching under his feet. They were filming the scene where the boys just went missing and it was between Bryce and Chris who determine how to find them.

That scene would have been amazing if his call didnt ruin it.

"Hello?" Harry answered his phone, a bit harsh bit they ruined an important scene. He had the right to be upset and angry.

"Oh.. Bad time?" A male voice came through and Harry instantly recognized it.

"Oh... Shit. I mean, crap. I mean.. God, I'm so sorry. I'm just in the middle of work, important scene. But-no, its alright." Harry babbled out. God damnit. This is the last person he needs to irritate or be rude to.

"Oh yes. I did some research. You're helping the Jurrasic World movie come together. Big, big expectations for that one. Movie critics are going crazy about the mere thought of the movie." Louis spoke and gave a chuckle. Harry was possibly the coolest person he's ever helped in his line of work. Of course he had to do his research. Not to mention Jurrasic Park is one of his favourites so he was excited about this as well. "Anyways. If this is a bad time, Harry, we can always do another house visit schedule. But it would be within the next month, I've got another client booked the rest of the time."

Harry cursed in his head. What is he going to do? He glanced back at the scene going on a while away and just bit his bottom lip. He's the director. Everyone knows his views. Maybe they can film this and be done for the day. Yeah, thats what he's going to do.

"No, sir. We can meet up, of course. I'll get out of here and head to the house. What time are you going to be at the house?" Harry spoke up, already waving a hand up in the air to get the attention of anyone. It was Julie and he motioned he was going and mouthed out 'done after this scene.' Which she nodded to.

"I actually specialize in surprise visits so I can actually understand the true state of something without giving advance. I'm at the gate, I was calling to get the code. I wasn't aware you weren't home, I apologize." Louis spoke and Harry closed his eyes. Okay. Shit.

"The code is key, key, 4627. I'll be there in at least twenty five minutes." Harry said before he started jogging off the scene and the set itself to where they were parked.

"Sounds good. I'll wait up until you get home. Dont rush, dont worry. It's all just procedure, nothing against you or your many... Many animals." Louis spoke and gave a small laugh. "Dont talk and drive. I'll see you in a little while."

"Yeah yeah. Okay. Bye." Harry said quickly before shoving his phone in his pocket. He got out his key and clicked the car unlocked so he could get inside of it. He was fumbling around with everything he could get his hands on because he was nervous and he tried to make his car look not like a bum lives in it. Not like Louis will look at it. Or will he?

It takes less than twenty minutes to get home because Harry may have broken a couple street laws because he was nervous that Louis was waiting a long time and because he didn't want to make a bad impression. But he was also excited as well because of the way that this could be a large stepping stone forward for him amd getting that precious little bundle of joy he's always wanted.

There was a car parked in his driveway and he knew that it was Louis'. And if that wasn't enough, the male was already out of the car and literally sitting on the trunk of his car. Harry pulled up next to the car parked and shut it off, stepping out.

"Mr. Styles." Louis spoke and hopped down, stepping over with his hand outstretched. Harry held his own hand out and met Louis half way to shake his hand in greeting.

"Mr. Tomlinson. Hi. I'm so sorry about making you wait. I wasn't prepared at all and my job is unexpecting but its also easy to get out of. Was just really short notice." Harry spoke softly and finally let go of Louis' hand.

"No worries. My mistake. I showed up unannounced." Louis stated. "Now stop with the apologies and let's do this."

Harry nodded easily and then just hesitated before turning around and walking towards his front door. "So.. You just... Want to take a look around? That's all? Or is this like... You take notes and then we figure out what's safe and not safe amd stuff?"

Louis hummed, following close but not too close as Harry walked to his door and fumbled with the keys. The bloke was actually shaking and Louis wanted to just coo because of how nervous Harry was. "Just an inspection. Like, I'll check to see how much you would have to baby proof the house before you even get a child, make sure the animals would be able to stand being surrounded with a child, different types of decorations and furniture that could be hazard. The back yard is a priority as well."

Harry nodded along to the words and just turned the knob handle. "Alright. Come on in." He said and then pushed the door open, allowing Louis to step inside first before he shut the door behind himself amd toed off his shoes.

Then came the clattering of nails against the tile and Harry knew it was his dogs. His cats would wander in whenever they felt like it if they weren't summoned. But his dogs? They get a bit excited sometimes. So, when they came to view, even though their tales were wagging violently at seeing someone new they stopped when Harry gave a sharp whistle.  He held a finger up and they all collectively sat down next to one another.

"Now you three calm down. We do not be rude to guests. We greet them one at a time, dont we?" Harry spoke and then pointed to Chunk while holding his hand up to the other two so they knew to stay. "You say hello." And with that, the bulldog got up and went over to Louis easily. He had trouble breathing a bit so he was snorting a bit and his bum was shaking since he didnt have a tale to wag.

Louis just cooed and knelt down. "Hello, honey. The file said your name was Chunk.. Very well mannered, you are." He spoke, smiling and just petting the squirming animal on the floor that was rubbing against him. But the whistle made the dog prance back and sit right back down. Then the Shepherd came up to him next, trying to lick his face and get her back scratched. He was already in love with these dogs, truly. They were beautiful.

Then the second dog left and Louis suddenly was pounced on, causing him to topple back and get attacked with slobbery kisses and it frightened him a bit because it wasn't the nicest thing to see a pittbull coming at you but he eventually laughed and tried to shield his face from the licks.

"Beast! No, bad boy!" Harry said and reached down to grab the dogs collar to yank him cleanly off of Louis. "Bad boy! We dont jump on people!" He scolded the dog while Louis managed to sit back up amd wipe at his face.

"Its fine. He's just excited." Louis said and saw the way that Beast tucked his tail in and held his head low in shame at Harry's disappointed tone of voice. Harry had so much control over these dogs. Its was endearing.

"I'm sorry. I didnt mean to let him go so.. So crazy like. It won't happen again, I'll work on that with him more." Harry spoke and then pointed to the hallway, all the dogs getting up and going back to their room since they knew what that signal means.

"Honestly, Harry, its alright. Little mistake. He was excited and stuff. Its cool." Louis said. "Don't worry, I won't be docking points off of your house visit or anything because of this. They seem well trained. You just have to work on it before you bring someone here and that will be enough time before the process closes let alone you being able to get your baby."

Harry relaxed a bit. "Okay. Thank you. I'll work really hard on that next time. I promise."

Louis nodded and just stood from his spot and brushed off his jeans and his shirt since it was wrinkled now and there was a not of dog hair on his clothes. He didnt exactly like the fact that there was dog hair when he also had a dog that would possibly get jealous and think he was cheating on him with other dogs. His dog was his only friend, really, and if he was going to ignore him, it wouldn't be too good.

"Alright. So, there's my living room. The aquarium is there as well. I already checked, its not hazardous or anything if a child was to stumble upon it. Plus, its high up so they can't reach it either." Harry explained and led Louis into the living room, staying in the entryway so Louis could walk over and get inside the living room and look around however he wanted.

Louis was silent as he walked in and around the room, eyes glancing over everything carefully. He even touched a lot of things as well. "Hm... Coffee table has a bit of sharp edges. Round tables are normally best with a child. No glass because they could tip it over and it could shatter. Or you can just get pads to cover the corners. No feather pillows, either, they could get one and choke in it. Fish tank seems sturdy enough and fine. No chords and no access to large televisions or game stations the baby could knock off, though, so if I were you, I would rearrange the set up by the telly. Maybe pin the chords to the walls and lock up the game stations in a drawer or something that could be childlocked. No decorative glass pieces, either, until the child is old enough to understand not to touch things."

Harry listened as if his life was on the line. He made a mental note to write everything down so he could go accordingly to whatever Louis needed him to do.

Then Louis left that room and took it upon himself to go explore. It took about twenty minutes just to go over the kitchen and the living room and the dining room altogether. Then Louis went to the hallway and into the rooms. This was the dogs room. More like a dog palace, actually. Louis had never seen better beds and so many toys and treats in his life.

"Alright. So many hazards here.. Uh... Maybe you can keep this door shut? Animals food has many harmful chemicals that the human body can't consume so its bad for a child to eat any. The toys could be a choking hazard, especially the ropes since the child can swallow a small amount." Louis explained. "Uh... Wow. There's just so much going on. Its an organized mess, this room."

"Yeah, sorry.. I just want them to have everything they want. They're my children right now so I felt like I had to spoil them before." Harry spoke and reached up to gently scratch the back of his neck. "I'll set to fixing that.."

Louis nodded and then just left the room, the dogs staying where they were in the room. The hype of having someone over was gone now. Louis went to the next room and he practically squealed. But he was thankful enough to cover it with a cough. "You've got your guinea pigs."

Harry nodded as he followed behind and just reached up, pinching his bottom lip. He wasn't sure how to read Louis so his words meant quite a lot.

Louis stepped over, looking around at all of the colorful tubing going across the walls and the floor. Bags of food set off to the side. And to make everything better, the guinea pigs were running through the tubing and Louis wanted to pass out. "Oh my god. This is so awesome. I dont think its a hazard but maybe you should arrange for the cage to be on a desk high enough for the baby to not have access to. Put the tubing on the floor on the wall to sturdy it, maybe."

Harry smiled. This was going rather good. Tips and not scoldings. He felt really good about this. He was getting a step closer to actual adoption and he couldn't be happier.

"Wanna hold one?" Harry asked since Louis wasn't moving out of the room as he did with the dogs room and just stared at the two running guinea pigs. Louis glanced back at Harry and just nodded.

"May I? I've never got to interact with these before. My sisters always wanted a bunny but mum never let us get anything other than dogs." Louis explained, trying to sound nonchalant about all of this. But it was a god damn guinea pig.

Harry nodded and stepped over, kneeling down and waiting for the two to run their way over to an opening in the tubing before he reached a hand in and grabbed one before they could run off. They were still growing so they weren't completely huge. Could easily fit in the two of his hands. Harry stood back up, holding Atlas close to his chest as the little thing gave out its small squeaking noises. Then he went over to Louis.

"Here... He's not the hyper one. He'll gladly just chill in your hands or he might even go to your shoulder." He explained and waited until Louis held his hands out before setting the guinea pig down into his hands.

Louis was practically beaming when he saw the cute little animals in his hands and just held him close to his chest. "Oh my god. Oh my god, you're so cute. What's those noises he's making? Is he crying?"

Harry laughed. "No no. That's normal. They make quite a lot of noises. They even squeal quite loudly when they hear their food bag opening or any crumbling of a bag because it normally means they get fed."

Louis didnt take his eyes off of Atlas, just held him and hesitantly pet at him. Then he gave a purr and Louis just gasped. "He's purring! That's so cute!"

"Actually, purring could mean they're annoyed. Probably doesn't like you petting him there. Dont pet him against the fur, pet him like you would pet a dog. Downwards." Harry explained. He's learned a lot about guinea pigs ever since he's got his own to care for.

Louis nodded and just pet him gently and like Harry explained. "I've seen a video of guinea pigs swimming.. Do you let them swim?"

Harry shook his head. "Not unless its for a bath. They dont genuinely like swimming. Mine, at least. Others love to swim."

Louis nodded easily. "Oh okay.. Doesn't it get overwhelming, though? Having so many animals to care for? And you also want a child.."

Harry didn't hesitate to shake his head with an honest answer. "Its not.. I love having someone to depend on me. Having animals and caring for them makes me sane, I think. I really want a baby, too, because I want to raise someone to be something. I want to raise a child as my own and watch them grow and transform into someone that can do so much. Its just.. Its always been a dream of mine. Having animals is one thing but raising a child and getting to care for a child is different and I really want that.. I'd do whatever it takes."

The room was silent after that, Louis glancing back at Harry for a moment before he just looked back down at the guinea pig. It wasn't until Louis felt something warm against his chest and arm did he gasp and hold Atlas out.

"He pissed on me! What the hell is wrong with your family and weeing on people!"

And for the first time, Harry didnt feel embarrassed. Instead, he laughed loudly enough to have to bend over and hold onto his knees.

 


	11. I Can Help Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,461

It turns out that this visit was far from a normal visit. Harry had to lend Louis a new shirt while the boy took a shower since Atlas decided to ruin a good moment by weeing all over him.

Harry didnt mind, though, because one, it didnt happen to him this time which is a plus and two, Louis would feel a bit more at home and explore the house as he found the bathroom and personally get to use it to check if its safe. Even though he's in the master bathroom.

The last time someones been over and used his bathroom was... Well... Not since he decided to leave his husband. Ex-husband. Harry didnt want to think about this right now, though. What a way to ruin a moment. Harry at least hopes that the male was happy with his young aspiring artists he left Harry for. Because Harry was happy with his new family and he's definitely happy nowadays knowing that he's about to have a child of his own.

Shit. He forgot to tell his mother.

"I never knew having jets spraying from the side of a shower would be as amazing as that was. Was scared the shower door was going to pop open and the water was going to make a mess of the room but it didnt. Jets in showers are probably better than jets in a bath." Louis' voice came out as he walked into the living room where Harry was, Beast on his lap with Chunk at his feet. Layla wasnt around, she was in the doggy room sleeping. Harry glanced over at Louis and just looked at the way his shirt was a bit too large for Louis. It fit him, wasn't falling off or anything, but it didn't seem form fitting. It just looked like Louis ordered a shirt about a size and a half bigger than he should have.

"Hello? Earth to Harry." Louis spoke and thats when Harry just blinked and looked up at him instead of just staring at him like some creep.

"Sorry. But yeah, the jets in the shower were custom made. Made the shower door be magnetized and sliding so the water couldn't push it open or slide out from any cracks or anything." Harry spoke and then just pushed Beast off of him so he could stand up from his position and just walked over to where Louis was. He smelt like coconut and piña colada. He used Harry's going out conditioner and body soap instead of his laze around conditioner and body soap. He has a different smell for certain occasions. Sue him.

"Thats amazing. I like that." Louis said before looking around. "Alright. I kind of looked around upstairs already. I wrote notes on me phone so I'll send them to you. Now let's see the back yard. That's where your otter and pig are, yes? They're another thing I'm very worried about with a baby around. They're exotic pets, right? Can never be too sure how they would act around a small child."

Harry nodded easily before moving to offer an arm out for Louis to take the lead to get outside first. Which Louis gladly did take the lead in doing without a moments worth of hesitation. He pushed open the sliding glass door and then just hummed. "Might want to child lock this door. Its rather easy to slide open." He stated before he stepped out and just gave a small gasp. The yard was huge and he didn't even know where to start looking.

The backyard seemed to be in sections and the first thing that Louis noticed was the cutest thing in the entire planet standing up behind one of the gates. It was the otter, he concluded. "Oh my god. Look at him! He's so cute!" Louis practically squealed out before he just glanced over at Harry and cleared his throat. "I mean.. The uh... The habitat is good. Safe."

Harry snickered softly and just moved to shut the sliding glass door and walked up to where Louis was. "I'm going to get a pool gate to go around the major pool area. But he does have a little pond built in for him but that's in his enclosure so I think its safe. Hard to get into unless the latch is pulled and even then, its about my height so a baby or a child couldn't get it. The pig has a pen so its just a wooden fence. Again, its got a latch."

Louis nodded easily. "Yeah. Its all good. Just get that gate built around the pool and make sure that the pen is polished because the child may try to chew on it and there can't be a problem with splinters." He explained and then his eyes went back to the little otter that was still at the gate, little nose twitching a bit.

Harry obviously noticed. "I think they might be hungry. Wanna feed Jinx while I feed Ace?"

Louis glanced over at Harry and just smiled widely. "Yeah. I can help out. The otter is Jinx, right?"

Harry nodded. "He is." He said. "He eats crustaceans.. Shrimp.. Stuff like that. I have a bucket full of it in the fridge. Just have to dump it out on the floor and he'll love you forever."

While Harry walked inside to retreave the food for Ace and Jinx, Louis stayed outside and just walked closer to the enclosure, kneeling down and holding his hand out to the otter through the metal of the enclosure. He'll have to tell Harry to fix that as well. He doesn't want the hot metal being a problem. But right now the otter just reached over and touched his fingers and he was going to die happily at this moment.

"I brought watermelon, too." Harry spoke up and it made Louis glance back at him and stand, brushing down his shirt a bit since he found he had wrinkled it a bit when crouching down.

"Huh?"

"Watermelon. Its a treat. He absolutely loves it, I reckon." Harry explained as he came out with two buckets, handing one of them to Louis. It had a horrible smell but it did have two pieces of watermelon along with it. Fish never really was his cup of tea. Though, he occasionally eats fish and chips.

"Alright. I'll go feed Ace so you're free to go in amd give Jinx his food. Careful, though, sometimes he likes to splash water." Harry said before moving to walk over the other direction to get to the pig pen and when he got close enough, there was a small yet high pitched squealing noise and Harry laughed at the excited little pig. "Hi, Ace!"

Louis watched Harry leave for a moment before he just gave a small smile and turned back to the otters little home. He held the pale in one hand while the other reached up and worked the latch off to be able to step inside of the enclosure. He shut the door and was instantly feeling something against his leg and he couldn't help but to coo. The otter was practically hugging his leg and looking up at him. He didn't mind the way that the leg of his bottoms were getting a bit damp.

"Hi!" Louis said softly and just knelt down, the little animal moving back as he did so before he noticed the pale. That normally signified food so if course he moved forward and quickly knocked it sideways, the contents spilling out. The otter instantly grabbed a piece of watermelon before he scurried away and got in the pond. However, he was just floating on his back as he ate the watermelon slice like that. Louis glanced around for a moment before he got out his phone and took a little video to send to his sisters with the caption ' _It's a good day to be at work. xx L'_

Louis put his phone back away before he just stood up from his spot and dumped the rest of the animals food out of the pale and just lifted the empty pale up again, smiling down at the otter. He loved him already. Louis glanced over to where the pig pen and his smile grew a bit softer because he saw the way Harry was running around and he could get only glimpses of the pig chasing after him. It was a good sight. Louis figured that maybe he didnt want this moment to end. Then again, it kind of had to. He'll just enjoy the moments while he had them and focus on the priority here. Not the little pleasures it brought him.

 


	12. Its A Good Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,316

"Alright. So, I think you did good so far. Your animals kind of keep to themselves and I just need you to do those little tweaks to the areas I've written down and told you about and we'll be alright." Louis spoke as they walked towards the door. It's been about three hours since Louis had been here and thats overstaying on his part. He had to cut it short at some point.

Harry nodded along and just stopped, opening the door for Louis who smiled and stepped outside while Harry stayed st the doorway. "Thank you again, Louis. I really appreciate you coming over and such. Helping me through this."

Louis waved a hand in dismissal. "The pleasured all mine, Harry. I'm willing to do whatever it takes for you to get the child you very much deserve." He stated before pulling his keys out from his pocket and clicking a button on them to unlock. "I'll have to come back and check on your progress with the renovations you need to have done. I also need to do some exercises with your animals and see how they would react to having a baby around. And we also would have to go through many options you can have with the families willing to put their child up for adoption, what kind of family you want your child coming from and the lot. Also, the family you chose has to chose from many other options so dont get your hopes set on just one. If there's a mutual chosing... We'll go from there."

Harry tried to understand all of that. It was a but hard to, though, so he just nodded along as if he understood every last word Louis said. "Alright.. I'll keep that in mind." No he won't. He'll most likely just go with the flow and do one step at a time with this process. Louis knows what he's doing, Harry trusts him.

"Good. I'll be in touch, Harry. My office is open as well if you want to stop by for any reason but please call first just to make sure I'm not with a client." Louis said before giving a small nod and then turning around so he could go down to his car and opened the door on the drivers side, waving over the roof of the car to Harry. "Au Revoir! Hope the movie is going well. High expectations!" And with that, Louis disappeared into the car and not a minute later the car itself disappeared driving away from Harry's house.

Harry stayed at the doorway for a moment, eyes staying on the spot where Louis' car had disappeared. But then there was a nudge at his leg and Harry looked down with a small laugh. "Hello, Mr. Sprinkles." He stated and leaned down to lift the kitten up to hold in his arms.

Then he just went to step back inside and shut the door behind him, locking it up. "Well, Mr. Sprinkles, I think we have a very good opportunity on or hands, hm?" He said and just went to the living room and sitting himself down with the cat in his lap who had to move around in circles for a moment until he just settled down with a sigh as if his life was very very hard.

Harry just gently pet from behind the cats ears and then down his back. "I know, I know. Life if rough. But with him, I think our lives are looking to be a bit better. I'm very happy with everything so far. He's a very nice man." He said softly. But there was no response after that so Harry just chuckled and leaned over to grab a remote and turn on his television. Its a good day.

~

"You get me at the worst possible times." Harry spoke, voice hushed as he watched a scene unfold a block away since he had to make a dash from the scene when his phone started to vibrate. He remembered ever since the first time to always keep his phone either silent or on vibrate just in case and thank God today it wasn't blaring music to ruin the entire scene they were doing because it was being shot absolutely perfectly.

"Are you filming again?" Louis asked through the phone, whispering as if talking loudly would ruin everything. Even though he wasn't anywhere close to the sight they were filming at.

"Yes, I am. I was home all day yesterday and pretty much all month but the moment I come here, you call." Harry spoke softly but he did have a small smile on his lips without noticing it much. 

"Oh, well let's see. You, Mr. Styles, are not my only client at the moment and I can't cater to your schedule." Even as Louis said that, he gave a small laugh because he was just teasing.

"But I'm a movie producer in Hollywood, Mr. Tomlinson, you have to cater to my schedule." Harry shot right back.

"And I decided your fait, so." Louis shot back once again. Well, he got Harry there.

"You're cruel."

"Its just business." Louis spoke. At this point, they were both grinning like idiots at nothing. "But anyways. I was calling to check up on your progress with the renovations and the baby proofing of the house. Also, I got you signed up for adoption and I need your signature before we go searching through applicants."

Harry's heart stopped. "Wait. Are you serious?"

"Mhm. As serious as white on rice." Louis stated. Harry didnt have the time to say 'but not all rice is white' because this was really happening. It only took almost three months from the start of it.

"Holy shit! Do you need it right now? Are you at my house again? I can leave right now and be there in–"

"Calm down, Harry. I'm not at your house again. This isn't a surprise visit. I just need you to stop by my office. I was gonna schedule your appointment here while I have you on the phone with me." Louis spoke before he just went silent a moment.

"Do you have today free?" Harry asked, anxious and just more than ready to get this rolling.

"Nope. I only called because I'm on my lunch. I do have tomorrow open at... either six in the morning or five in the afternoon.. Is–"

"Six in the morning." Harry cut him off.

"Of course you picked that. But... I dont want you to do that. I can't handle your cheer that damn early in the morning. You'd be the last appointment of the day for me. Think that's a bit better." Louis stated. He really just wanted to be able to have a bit more time than have a strict time to time schedule with him. Plus, maybe they could get some tea or coffee or something along those lines. To discuss this process further, of course.

Harry sighed softly. "Thats not fair at all. You shouldn't have asked me if you were just gonna assign me a time."

Louis laughed a bit. "If you would have let me finish, you wouldn't have had the option in the first place." He explained. "Alright. So tomorrow at five. You're all set. Just come in and talk the lady that you're my five o'clock and confirm your name with an ID verification and she'll sign you in."

Harry nodded easily. "Yeah, alright. I can't wait. This is so exciting. Thank you so much, Louis."

"No problem. Now go back to filming the best movie ever." Louis said.

"Aye Aye captain." Harry spoke and then hung up the phone. He had to do a small breathing exercise to stop himself from squealing before he went back up to the set of the scene.

Today was definitely a good day.


	13. In A State Of Emergency Who Was I Trying To Be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1369

It was another one of those days. Five in the afternoon and Harry woke up at six in the morning. Why must he torture himself by doing these kind of things? It's as if his body knew that today was an exciting day and didn't want to sleep at all even though he wouldn't be doing anything at all for today until five o'clock when he would most likely be fashionably early to his appointment in hopes of being seen as soon as he can.

All he had to do was pass the time.

And that failed him as well. He was doing so well, too, for the most part. Until it hit three o'clock in the afternoon and he was on his fourth cup of tea and his third movie and a warm cat curled up on his lap. All things he should have avoided, in all honesty. So it was his fault that he ended up dozing off. And it was again his fault when he woke up at exactly 5:21 in the afternoon and had a panic attack and quite literally tripped over every single animal he had in the living room to get off the sofa.

He was late.

Very /very/ late, actually, and he wasn't sure that being five minutes last half an hour late was going to get him anywhere good. It was that time because Harry had about a ten minute drive to the building. If he wasn't punctual, what does that say about him as being fit for a child? What if he's late picking them up from school and they get taken away to a daycare and he doesn't know where to find them? Or what if he forgets that they need to be fed?

Needless to say, he was in tears as he broke every single traffic law there ever was invented on his way to the adoption center and when he got there, the lot seemed almost empty and Harry wanted to scream. The car he remembered Louis having when he came to his house wasn't there and when Harry parked the car, he just leaned his head against his hands on the wheel and sobbed rather loudly. He fucked up and he was angry because he didnt have anyone to blame. He was the stupid one to not stay away or even set an alarm to alert him that, hey, he had a pretty serious appointment that he probably needed to remember.

Eventually Harry just say back up and leaned against his seat, using his hands to wipe away his tears from his cheeks and his eyes before he grabbed out his phone and dialed the only number he could think to dial.

"Hi, mum. I have a lot to tell you."

~

It was two days before Harry got any kind of acknowledgement from Louis or anything remotely close to having to deal with adoption at all. He got an anonymous email one night at around eight after having just came back from another day of shooting and lazily looked over it with tired eyes. It was only eight but he was exhausted. It takes a lot out of him to film from dawn up until sun set and even an hour after that.

_Mr. Styles,_

_We have seen you failed to come to your scheduled appointment to see counselor Louis Tomlinson in regards to your adoption process. Upon further time we have given to contact us or reschedule to your needs, we have deemed it fit that you aren't willing to sign off on the next step and are retracting your application and your process previously recorded to be eligible for adoption._

_Also note that this email is just a joke and its Louis. Just wanted to give you a scare for standing me up like that. I rescheduled you for another appointment this Tuesday at five, the same time as your last. Hope you can make it and I'm sorry for scaring you with how I opened this. (No I'm not)_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Louis Tomlinson_

That son of a bitch.

~

"So is that how its going to be?" Is the first thing Harry says when he's allowed back and down the hall to Louis' office. He walked inside after shutting the door, crossing his arms. He was a half an hour early this time, granted he had to wait but it was fine. They had the cooking channel playing so he was fairly entertained.

Louis leaned back against his chair and placed his intertwined hands against his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"You made me cry." Harry said. "Literal tears. I was in tears because of you. I almost didnt finish ready the letter, I was so devastated."

"Got you to come here early, though, didnt it?" Louis stated before giving a small smile. "I would never have let anyone get that letter, though. Its mandatory to give someone at least a phone call to see if they need to reschedule and even then we give then two weeks. Not two days."

Harry pouted. "I didn't know that, though!"

Louis laughed a bit. "Awe. You poor thing. I'm sorry, alright? Never again will I email you those words." He said before holding up his left hand. "Scouts honor."

"You were in boy scouts?"

"What?"

Harry paused for a moment and then just shook his head. "Never mind. So... The reason I'm here is to sign and look for babies."

"Correction. You're here to sign your consent form and a couple other things and then you look for suitable mothers and couples that want to put their child up for adoption. Sometimes they already had the child and sometimes theyre still carrying. And you chose them, yet they have hundred of people in line probably so they would have to chose you as well. Its not one sided, Harry." Louis explained and grabbed out a stack of about twenty papers, green tabs sticking out from the side and Harry assumed they all marked where he needed to sign on what pages.

"Okay... So... I just sign all of it?" He asked and then flipped through the pages for a moment. That was a lot of reading.

"Yeah. If you wanna read through it, be my guest. To summarize it, its claiming you will be held responsible for the contact between you and the adoptive parents you are going to be working with. You agree with all of the notes I have taken to be scanned and shared to the proper people needed. You agree to all surprise pop up visits and if there would be any problems along the line, you won't back out. Blah blah blah. Also, you can't be sued if something happens with the person whom you are adopting from and vice versa until after the exchange of the child is made. Blah blah blah... Etcetera." Louis spoke and then slid over a pen for Harry to use when he wanted to sign.

Harry frowned a bit and then nodded. Louis seemed to know what he was doing so he's going to trust him on this. So, Harry clicked the top of the pen before he just scribbled his signature where it needed to be and even printed his name where it said to print. Which still looked like a signature because his handwriting kind of sucks. He's more of a spoken words person than a writing person. Once that was finished with, Harry slid the pack of papers back to Louis. Who in turn looked through it and signed a couple of things himself, making small notes here and there. Harry didnt question it.

"Great. So, we'll send this out and I'll make a copy to keep here just to keep the documentation safe and whatnot." Louis spoke before filing that away for now.

"So... Thats it? I can get a baby?"

Louis looked over and just gave a small smile. "You can get a baby."

And if Harry squealed and jumped up, leaning over the desk to attack Louis in a hug and making things splay out to the floor, no one besides the two of them need to know.


	14. The Nursery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,282

"I should start designing the nursery." Harry spoke as they both were walking out of the building since he was Louis' last appointment of the day and he was definitely willing to wait for Louis to clock out and get his things ready to leave because well... He doesn't know. He could have left ten minutes ago.

"You won't even know the gender of the child until you get approved and when the parents know it. Not to mention I've had cases where they didnt want to know the gender until birth. You've got a while to plan that." Louis said as he dug his keys out from his pocket and clicked a button to unlock his car.

"I've been planning for years, trust me. I want a baby blue and light pink room so the baby doesn't grow up to stereotypical colors assigned to boys and girls. And the designs are gonna be animals like elephants, giraffes, hippos, lions, meerkats, zebras and cheetahs." Harry explained with a wide smile, following Louis to his car since he wasn't done talking about this yet.

"Thats a lot of animals." Louis commented.

"Mhm. Well, I have a lot of animals so I want my baby to be accustomed to growing up with as many animals as I possibly could." Harry explained with a nod of his head. Though, they eventually got to the car and Louis turned to face Harry with a small smile.

"You know.. I'd love to discuss this further. Seems like you need some ideas because that idea is in every baby room. Animal paintings are so three years ago." Louis explained before just looking around. "Its only five thirty. Wanna go to that small café down the street? They've got some pretty good desserts and tea."

Harry grinned widely and nodded his head. "Yeah, that sounds good. I haven't had dinner yet, either, so I'll just get something there."

Louis agreed. Then he just watched as Harry practically ran to get to his own car, smiling a bit to himself. He won't deny the fact that Harry was pretty adorable. But he was divorced and Louis didn't remember if he said that he was married to a man or a woman. If he even said it at all. Harry could probably swing both ways and he'd have extra competition. Wait. What? No. Not competition. He doesn't date clients. Thats in his contract, actually, when he agreed to work here because of the fact that most people fill their hearts with a child and love easily. He doesn't want to take advantage of anyone at all. Plus, divorce seemed to make Harry angry so who's to say he even wants to start anything.

Louis needs to stop thinking of this, really. He went from 'Harry looks adorable' to thinking of marriage. Thats most likely the definition to both being stupid and overthinking.

Harry on the other hand was absolutely ecstatic about the way that Louis was helping him with this. It was so sweet of him to offer up his time like he was right now. Not to mention how he was helping him finally achieve his absolute dream of having a child. He was bouncing in his seat as he got in the car and started it up. He of course waited for Louis to start driving before he followed behind him. He can't wait to call his mum again. He called her to tell her he was going to adopt and missed an appointment so he might bit get the child he wanted and this call would consist of nothing but good things. He would leave out the email where Louis made him scared for his life, though. She didnt need to know the full story.

The café was quite literally down the street and on the corner. So it didnt take longer than a minute to get there. Harry parked one space away from Louis because he doesn't fancy parking close to anyone's car. Thats why he likes parking at the farthest possible spot when he goes shopping. He doesnt mind the walk it takes. But the lot was empty and he didnt want to park far when he didnt actually have to.

Harry got out of the car, shutting the door behind him and just watching the way that Louis got out of his own car and went right to the doors to open one and waited for Harry to enter. It was such a sweet gesture and it made Harry smile and give a small nod as to say thanks as he stepped inside first. There was probably three other tables filled with people and it felt overall peaceful and comfortable in the atmosphere. Harry enjoyed this.

It was a seat yourself type of place so Harry waited for Louis before he just motioned to the left, Harry easily going ahead. He chose a window booth section and sat down on one side while Louis went to occupy the other side.

"This place is really cute." Harry commented.

"Yeah. I adore it here. Normally the smaller joints are the ones with the best food and drinks." Louis explained before he glanced over and saw a waitress walking over with a cheery smile and setting their menus down.

"Here you go. Do you know what you want to drink or you can have time to look over the menu and decide and I can come back." The girl spoke, voice lit with a bit of an Australian tone to it. She couldn't be older then seventeen.

"I'll have the Yorkshire, milk and honey but no sugar, please." Louis said easily and Harry hummed.

"That sounds good. I'll have the same. But also with a milkshake. Not sure what kind I want though." Harry commented as he looked over the drink section of the menu. He did notice the way she suddenly stood straight as a sign of excitement so he looked over with a small smile. "What do you recommend?"

"They're all so good here. I have one every day for lunch." The girl spoke before leaning over and pointing to one. "The cookies and cream shake is delicious. But so is the mocha shake. But my favorite is the Shamrock shake. Its a green colour but thats just food dye. It tastes like birthday cake. And it comes with a green straw with a shamrock on it."

Harry listened intently and then just nodded. "Well. I guess I'll just have to get all three of those." He stated and looked at Louis. "You up for a test taste of three shakes?" He asked with a small grin.

Louis just rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles. "Please. I was born for this."

That made Harry laugh a bit before he looked back at the girl. "Thats it for now. Thank you, darling." He said and she just nodded, scribbling down on the notepad before she eventually moved to leave the table and go get their drink orders.

"Well. I better prepare for a stomach ache." Louis stated, looking over the menu as he spoke.

"Yeah. Because when we get them, we'll pick our favorite and then see who can drink all of it first. And them we'll share the third one when we get our food." Harry stated with a small nod and looked over the menu as well. "My goal is to get sick."

Louis barked out a laugh at that. "You're insane. But I'm totally going to kick your bum at this." He said, looking up from his menu to see Harry already smirking at him.

"Bring it on, Tomlinson."

"Count on it, Styles."

 


	15. The Best Argument

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,438

"I can't even believe you right now! You're so inconsiderate!"

"I'm not the one who started this conversation!"

"Say anything bad about cats again and I'll end this night short and never talk to you again."

Louis only leaned back in his seat and laughed. There were two empty glasses off to the side and one half filled one between them, plates with half eaten food in front of both of them since they couldn't finish it due to the fullness of their stomachs because of their 'shake-off' as Harry liked to call it. It was a tie but Louis pretended to finish after Harry so he could win. He's a sap, sue him.

"All I'm saying is that cats fur has a lot more—"

"Shut up! Shut. Up. Shut up. Shut! Up!" Harry kept repeating and reached up to cover his ears and turned his nose up to try and let Louis know that he was annoying him.

Louis grinned before he gave a soft laugh and just held his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay!" He spoke before setting his arms back on the table. "But I think we both can agree that your otter is probably the cutest animal in the world."

Harry pulled his hands away from his ears and his argumentative attitude seemed to vanish as he gave a beaming smile. "Yes! I didn't even purposefully get him or Ace, either. Best accident ever."

Louis frowned. "What do you mean?"

That set Harry off into telling a story. It started out with Mr. Sprinkles and went to every single animal he's gotten and what led him to get every animal. Louis stayed silent but he watched Harry speak intently, nodding along whenever Harry's hopeful eyes glanced over to make sure he was listening. It wasn't the best story to hear, rather boring, but to Louis it was so interesting and he hung on to every single word being shared with him.

"And then his paw went in the paint! He got his paw print on the wall, can you believe that? But anyways. That's why there's prints of all my animals on the wall in the living room. In order from who I got first to last. I'm gonna keep that forever because its so cute and I couldn't even be mad at Mr. Sprinkles. He started the cutest project ever. When I have my baby, their hand prints are gonna be put above the animals with mine next to theirs. Our complete family forever in the house." Harry finally finished and sat back, a small and satisfied smile crossing his facial features.

"Okay. Let me get this straight, see if I have all of this correct. You got Mr. Sprinkles when you were married and after you got divorced, you got Pickles and Dotty. Then you got Beast and Layla and Chunk because you wanted to price a stereotype wrong but not before you put in your aquarium. That's also the time that the paw print legacy started because Mr. Pickles dipped his paw in paint and put it on the wall and you thought it was cute. But then you got the guinea pigs because you found them cute and nothing else. And finally you signed every position at your ball and didn't read the fine print which led you to adopting two exotic animals that were in danger and that happened to be Jinx and Ace and now you want a child to complete your family." Louis babbled out about everything that Harry had said. Of course Harrys explanation had a lot more detail and was now in depth and long but he tried his best to paraphrase.

Plus, Harry was starting at it like the sun was shining out of his ass. So its a good day.

"It was a gala, not a ball." Harry spoke and Louis tossed himself back against the booth dramatically.

"Its the same thing!"

"No its not!"

That brought another ten minute argument. Louis knew he was wrong about a minute in to the argument but he liked how passionate Harry was when proving him wrong. Plus, it meant more time to stall leaving the image and going their separate ways.

"You're absolutely hard headed and wrong. I bet you've never even been to a ball or a gala to know the difference. Which there is a difference." Harry stated.

"You're right. I work as an adoption counselor. Why would I be invited to any of those." Louis stated. But then he saw the way Harry was smirking and he realized what he just said. "No—"

"You said I was right."

"I did not."

"You did."

"Liar!"

Instead of arguing further, Harry just laughed. "I think you know you're wrong but you just can't admit being wrong because of your huge ego."

Louis would think that arguing this much would get boring. But they both seemed to come closer together because of it. It wasn't arguments that they both firmly believed in, either. It was fun disagreements.

"You got me. Thats it." Louis lied. He'd rather Harry believe that than tell him its because he's adorable and he wants to stall him so they dont have to leave.

"I knew it. I can read people really well." Harry stated, nodding and really believing that. That's why he's a director, actually. A damn good one at that.

"You sure can." Louis stated and just glanced down at his plate, stomach turning at the thought of eating another bite so he pushed it forward a bit.

That's about the time that Harry checked the time on his phone. They were there for three hours and he didnt even realize. It felt like such a shorter amount of time. "Oh.. Its late. I should get home. I've got to get up early and head to the studio." He spoke and then just moved to shove his phone back in his pocket.

Louis frowned. What he was trying to avoid was here. It shouldn't make him as sad as it did. He opened his mouth to speak but they both seemed to have the same idea and spoke at the same time.

"Maybe we can—"

"Do you want to—"

They both stopped and Harry blushed a bit while Louis waved a hand.

"You go first."

Harry nodded a bit. "Do you want to come watch?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit as he glanced at Louis. He seemed hesitant and that's because he was.

"Wait. Come watch what?" Louis asked.

Harry shrugged a bit. Maybe he was overstepping his boundaries with this. This might be extremely strange. Plus, who would want to go watch a film being made? Harry enjoys it but others find enjoyment doing other things. "Uh...  nevermind. Its stupid anyways."

Louis shook his head. "I bet it isn't. Are you talking about coming to watch you direct?" He asked. That sounded cool. Louis would most likely jump at the chance and not only because it meant seeing Harry again soon instead of waiting another month when he gets approved by signature to search for parents who are putting their child up for adoption.

"I mean. Yeah. Just so, you know, you can see what I do and how work doesn't effect my time at home and how I can get of whenever if I need to for the baby and stuff." Harry explained. Yeah, that's it.

Louis smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That would be great. Never know the life of someone unless you experience it."

Harry nodded. "Right." He agreed before he put down a twenty pound bill while Louis paid the other half, standing up and brushing his hands against his shirt. "Well. I'll text you. I'll probably come and pick you up. Dont want you driving there yourself because I'm not technically allowed to give directions."

Louis stood as well with a small nod. Why is he nodding so much? "That sounds amazing. I'll give you my address." He stated and then followed Harry out of the cafe, holding the door for him of course.

They walked silently to their cars and seeing as they parked close to each other, they just stopped between their cars.

"Well. Until we meet again." Louis stated, which made Harry give a soft laugh.

"You make it seem like its decades away. I'll see you, Louis." Harry stated before turning to get into his car.

"It seems like a decade.." Louis mumbled softly to himself before he waved at Harry as he drove back and then just got in his own car.

 


	16. Not A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,409

What does one wear to this kind of event? Louis had that question running through his mind for the last hour and a half. He showered but his hair was dried up now as was his skin but he still had a towel wrapped around his waist. He's reached for a couple articles of clothing but he never grabbed anything. He didnt know what would be appropriate to wear.

So, he called Charlotte, his sister.

"Hello, Louis. What's going on, babes?" The girls voice came through his phones speaker.

"Lottie, darling. Hello, my love. You know fashion, right? You're into all of that stuff, yeah?" Louis spoke up, hand on his hip while the other held the phone up to speak into.

"I like to think thats why I majored in cosmetology and fashion design, yeah." Lottie spoke with a soft laugh. "You only ask me that question when you have a date and can't decide on what to wear. And before you deny it, you know I've majored in that because I work with Lou and I literally design clothes and do makeup and have my own line of lipstick. So dont play dumb."

Louis paused for a moment. Why did she have to speak like that? Where in the world does she get that kind of sass from?

"Okay first of all, I don't see you a lot to know that stuff and even if I did, I have bad memory." Louis spoke, frowning a bit.

"Is there a second of all?"

"Yes. Second of all, it isn't a date."

Then there was a pause on both sides of the phone for about twelve seconds. Then Louis just gave a small sigh. "Lottie, come on now."

"I'm sorry. I was just looking around for hidden cameras because you've got to be joking me." Lottie spoke up before she gave a small laugh. "If its not a date then why do you need my help with fashion?"

"I... It's just.. Its just not a date, okay? Jesus Christ. I'm a grown man, I dont need you doing this. You're years younger than I am anyways. So you can't even make fun of me for going on dates." Louis accused but that caused a laugh to come from Lottie.

"So it is a date!"

"Lottie I'm going to murder you."

"Yeah but not before I help you pick an outfit to wear for your date."

Louis didnt know what to do with her. He really didnt. She was such a nuisance sometimes and it annoyed him all at the same time that it made him just a bit proud. 

"Not a date."

"Totally a date."

Louis groaned.

"The fact that you're getting so angry over this and claiming up and down that it isn't a date makes me think its a date even more." Lottie stated. Well.. She seemed to have a point there.

"Okay, but really. It isn't a date. And before you argue with me, just let me explain. My client is Harry Styles, right? Big Hollywood director. He's working on Jurassic World right now and he offered to take me to see behind the scenes of how its shot and stuff. To give me insight to his work for the adoption process." Louis explained. "Still think its a date?"

"Yes."

Louis groaned yet again.

~

It took an hour of talking before Louis was dressed. He wore a simple grey shirt with a few buttons at the top and a black blazer that Lottie said would be 'simple yet effective' with a pair of black skinnies. It worked out rather well. Doesn't seem too much of a show-off yet it doesn't seem to casual either. 

With that being done, Louis did his hair and pushed it up and out of his face even though it still was rather wavy and uncontrollable. He figured that he couldn't wear contacts because that might be bad if its outdoors for a long time so he put his glasses on. He seemed fit for a meeting. Or a date. Even though this wasn't a date at all.

Louis sighed softly to himself before he just left his room and went to settle in the living room instead. Harry hasn't text him yet so he figured he wasn't on his way. It was already close to nine in the morning, though, so Louis wasn't sure where he was. Maybe he got busy and couldn't get him. That would he a factor. Or maybe he was just joking and Louis took it literally. It would be the most believable joke Louis had ever been involved in, thats for damn sure.

Before long, and before Louis could dwell further on this, there was a knock at the door. He frowned, not expecting anyone to come to his house without notice. So, he stood up and then just went to the door, pulling it open.

"Can I help— oh."

Harry smiled widely down at Louis. "Hi. Ready to go?" He asked. He wasn't too dressed up either. He's not one to be behind the lens of a camera so he didnt dress out. Just dressed in a Gucci hoodie and then black jeans with brown boots. He also had a brown jacket to wear with it. He had his long hair pulled back in a bun as well.

Louis kind of was grateful for Lottie because they kind of dressed somewhat alike. He would have way overdressed if he dressed himself. Harry looked good, though. Then again, he always looked pretty good.

At the same time that it took Louis to glance over Harry, Harry glanced over Louis. He looked better than he expected. To Harry, he felt a bit underdressed for the way Louis dressed. He looked so good. Harry was the director, yeah, but he felt like Louis was above him in this category.

The first to break the silent staring was Louis. He turned to grab his wallet before he just smiled softly at Harry and then stepped out. "I didn't think that you would actually show up. Was starting to think I thought wrongly about the whole situation."

Harry frowned a bit. "I forgot to text you?" He asked, voice sounding as if it was the worst mistake in the world. "Oh, shit.. I'm so sorry. I thought I text you the details."

Louis shook his head. "No! No, its fine! Dont worry about it. Thankfully you were here later, though, because I didnt get ready until about an hour ago." Lies.

Harry nodded. "Right. Okay. I'm still sorry. Its just I got up at five this morning only to hear that Bryce was sick and she literally couldn't get out of bed so I had to send her a doctor and she's in so much of the scenes so I have to figure out what to film and I have Chris there so I might do a scene with him. Or I'll just get the first scene out of the way." He babbled out as he turned around to start walking back to his car, Louis trailing behind after he turned and locked his door. "And you're not going to believe how much of a setback this is for me. If she's not well within a week, the release date is going to be fucked and we'll get bad backlash from the press and reporters because of the release date we had planned that might be pushed back tremendously."

Louis listened to every word and Harry was extremely flustered. He over worried so everyone else didnt have to do any of the worrying for this at all. Which meant that they were calm and got everything done while Harry organized and finalized. It might turn out perfect but of course Harry still worried.

"That sounds tough." Louis spoke up, causing Harry to nod and just walk over to the drivers side of the car.

"Yeah. You can say that again."

"That sounds tough."

Harry paused and glanced over at Louis from over the car before he laughed loudly. "I didn't mean that literal!"

Louis just grinned. "I know. Got you to laugh, though. Seemed like you needed a laugh." He stated before he opened the passenger door and then got into the car. Harry was left with a small smile, biting his bottom lip before he eventually got in as well. This day was going a bit better now.


	17. Happy Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,124

"Where the fuck is Nick?" Harry called out, standing in the middle of the house they were shooting in, hands on his hips.

"I'll go find him!" His assistant called out before she scurried away. She was always so willing to do whatever Harry wanted and he was oh so grateful for everything she does. Shes a really big part of the whole filming process. She was only assigned to him for this particular film but Harry would probably ask to have her as am assistant for every film he does from here on out. They work well together.

But then there was a crashing sound from outside and Harry flinched, slowly reaching up to cover his face. "I dont want to know. I dont want to know. You all are going to give me a heart attack before I turn thirty." He kept babbling to himself, the stress eating him away even though everything was actually going really well. Then there was a tap on his shoulder and then he pulled his head out of his hands and looked up to see who it was, blue eyes gazing over at him. Honestly, he had forgotten that Louis came at all today, he just really into his job.

"Mr. Styles. May I have a word?" Louis spoke out softly.

"I didn't really mean they'll give me a heart attack. I'm quite healthy and I'm hoping to live to ninety eight." Harry quickly spoke, making Louis frown.

"What?" Louis questioned.

Harry just shook his head. "Sorry.. I thought.. Nevermind." He mumbled. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. You seemed a bit stressed and I believe that its over nothing. I mean.. I'm not some director but I am part of the public that is looking forward to the movie and all and the scene you got dine today so far is actually quite well." Louis spoke, moving to cross his arms over his chest. "Not to mention how absolutely wicked it is to see how well a movie is coming along. I thought it was going to be a disaster the way you were freaking out earlier but its really not."

Harry looked down at his shoes as Louis spoke, trying not to blush and smile because thats not what he needs. He needs to worry about getting Nick here and doing this opening scene.

"You're doing it again." Louis added after a second longer of silence and it made Harry glance up, eyes confused.

"Doing what again?"

"You do this thing when something good happens on set. You get a bit happy and then a moment later you're worrying all over again." Louis commented. Not like he had been observing Harry closely for the last three hours. (He was.) "Just leave the worrying behind for this scene. Do it that way. The moment you start to worry, think happy thoughts and see how it plays out. You're gonna need that technique when you've got a growing child to care for as well."

Harry thought it over a moment. Maybe Louis was right. "Alright. But if my directing turns to shit, its on you. I've been worrying since I came out of the womb and I've excelled in that."

Louis laughed softly. "Yeah, well, there's always room for change and improvement."

Harry couldn't argue with him there. But then all the lighting went out aand Harry groaned loudly.

"God damnit, Nick! What did I say about shutting the power down? I said not to do that again!" Harry shouted as he stormed out of the fake house in search of the actor.

"Happy thoughts!" Louis called out.

"Happy fucking thoughts!" Harry called back. The last thing he heard was Louis' loud laughter and it granted a small smile to graze Harry's lips as he went to find the kid responsible for this turn of events.

~

"Thats a wrap for today! Everyone you did an amazing job! Hopefully we can have Bryce back in by this Thursday and film a couple more smaller scenes! We're almost done, you lot, and I'm so excited to see the final cutting of it!" Harry exclaimed to the entire cast and crew that were getting ready to leave. "Nick Robinson. If you play one more prank, though, I will not hesitate to give Chris permission to beat you."

With that, a laughter filled the room as Chris moved to grab Nick in a headlock and playfully ruffled his hair up. Harry smiled a bit. This cast was actually quite amazing.

"Alright! Job well done! Everyone's free to go!" Harry said and clapped his hands a bit before he turned around and then gathered his coat from the directors chair. Then he heard someone else clapping and glanced over to see Louis was the one doing it.

"Bravo! Encore!" The boy exclaimed and it effectively made Harry give a soft laugh as he stood straight.

"Save that for the premiere." Harry stated before he backtracked. "I mean. If you're even like.. Wanting to go. Which you don't have to! Its expensive. Even though I'll probably invite you if you want to go and because I'm director, I can have a plus one. Not that you're my plus one as in a date! I mean, like..." He babbled out, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Harry." Louis stated. "Do you want me to go with you to your premiere?"

Harry bashfully nodded, his entire face going red. "But.. Just because you like it. And I owe you one. For giving me the chance to get a baby and all. And my family already gets to go since they're family."

Louis tried a little bit too hard not to practically jump for joy at that. Instead, he just stayed calm and cool and collected and gave a small shrug. "Yeah. That sounds cool enough."

Harry looked over at him and just gave a soft smile. "Yeah? Cool. The premiere is this summer. In about five months. We'll be finished filming in one month more and then all the affects and stuff. Its been about a year since we started this."

Louis nodded a bit. "I know. I did some research."

Harry grinned. "You did?"

"Yeah. Its part of my job." Louis answered easily. Harry tried not to let the smile fall.

"Right. Well. I should take you home. Its been a long day and I've got to go back home and feed the pets and maybe take a nap." Harry commented.

Louis nodded easily. "Right. Yeah.. I had fun, regardless."

Harrys forced grin turned into a soft smile as he nodded and answered honestly. "I'm glad. It was nice having you here."

 


	18. Everything Good Comes To An End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,680
> 
> I apologize in advance for this chapter !! ):
> 
> xx H

It turns out that would be the last time that Harry sees Louis in a while. Their only other encounters after that day of filming was through email. Harry was given strict directions on how to chose a fit parent willing to give up their child to adoption and he was sent the people to pick from by Louis and when he went over their files and researched through every single one, he was able to narrow it down to about seven people.

The reason they couldn't do this with each other was because Harry was busier than all hell to take time out of his day to visit with him for any amount of time. It's been two months since they have seen each other and one month since Harry finished filming and was now working to put it all together. Work with the animators and electronical aspects of the film as well as the sound casting. This wasn't as stressful to him as was the filming but this was what took more time out of his day. His life, actually.

It was a Tuesday when it happened. Harry was out shopping for food with Mr. Sprinkles in the cart since he was such a good kitty and went everywhere with him. He meowed to make decisions that Harry couldn't make himself and he was there to purr for attention which would make Harry grin and scratch under the kittens chin.

Harry was getting ready to check out when his phone went off. He glanced down at the caller ID and frowned when it was the veterinarian he takes his animals to. So, he answered it with a confused hello.

"Ah. Mr. Styles. We have reports of the last visit that you had brought Dotty in for. And we told you we would run the proper tests for the symptoms she was facing  yes?" The vet spoke out, her voice sounding far too soft for his liking.

"Yes.. But that was a while ago. She hasn't gotten any worse. She's sleeping lots but I think thats the medication—"

"The medication didnt have a sleepiness side effect. It was supposed to increase her appetite and help the antibodies in her body fight any infection." The lady cut him off and Harry brought a hand up to chew in his nails. This didnt sound good.

"Okay.. So what is this call for? Do I need to bring her back in?" He asked softly.

"Im afraid so. The tests came back positive for a growth in her spine and also one attached to her liver. Hence the lack of movement and the lack of appetite and tiredness." The lady spoke. Harry only heard static after the word 'growth'. That was never a good word and his heard was pounding against his ribcage.

"W-wait. Wait. This can be treated, right? Y-you guys have to go in and take it out." He mumbled softly, trying to wrap his mind around the whole thing.

"We'll do our best. Bring her in as soon as possible."

~

Harry sat on the sofa with his head in his hands, sobbing rather loudly to where the dogs deemed it fit to lay at his feet and Beast even laid next to him on the sofa with his head on his lap. They all tried to comfort Harry in times of distress. But it only made him even more sad.

Then his phone rang again. Harry couldn't answer it. So he let it ring until it went to voicemail. Then it rang again. Harry groaned a bit and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and saw it was Louis calling. He almost didnt answer it again but he knew that it could probably be important. So, with shaky, and rather drenched with tears, hands he pushed the green answer button and held the phone to his ear.

"H-hello?"

"Harry? Are you alright? I've emailed you ten times these last three days. You haven't responded and you didnt answer my first call so—"

Harry gave a loud sob again and just covered his face with his other hand. That just reminded him of what happened these last three days.

"Oh.. Shit. Alright. Hold on, H, okay?" Louis' voice came out rushed along with some muffled noises in the background but Harry didnt care. He was just so sad.

"Sh-she was so-so tiny." Harry cried out.

"Who was, darling? What happened?" Louis questioned, voice a bit softer.

"Th-they took her from me and-and-and—" Harry couldn't even finish before he was crying again, having a small coughing fit with how worked up he was getting. The asthma he had didnt exactly help with the harsh sobs flowing through him that he kind of knew wouldn't be stopping any time soon.

"Harry, hon, I need you to breathe for me, alright? You're gonna make yourself sick with how much you're crying." Louis spoke up in his ear again.

"I-I wanna be sick! She suffered, I should, too!"

"No, babe, listen to me. I dont know what happened but you can't make you self take any of the blame. You dont need to make yourself sick." Louis said. "Breathe according to the counts I give okay?"

Harry didnt respond but Louis still heard the sobs coming from him.

"Okay, breathe for me, okay?" Louis spoke up again anyways. "One.. Two.. Three.. Four. Now to exhale. One.. Two.. Three.. Four."

Harry didnt want to listen. He really didnt. But god damn, the boys voice sounded so soothing that he couldn't help it. His breathing was choppy and shaky and he broke the rhythm a couple times, though. This went in for about seven minutes.

"I need you to go to your front door and open it up." Louis eventually spoke. Harry sniffled a bit, giving a small hiccup.

"Why? I dont wanna move."

"Just do it, babe, trust me."

Harry stayed silent and unmoving for about a minute before he was just coughing into his elbow and standing up, keeping the phone to his ear as he walked with blurry vision to the door. He unlocked it before swinging it open. He almost dropped his phone when he saw Louis standing at the doorstep with a small smile.

"Hey—"

Louis didnt even have time to get the entire word out before Harry really did drop his phone and fling himself onto Louis, wrapping his arms and legs around him. Seeing as Louis wasnt prepared for that and that Harry was about a foot taller than him, he stumbled back and had to turn around and slam back against the house so he couldn't fall.

Harry sobbed harder and harder against his neck as the secinds passed, the soothing breathing he did prior to help him control himself doing nothing right now because it was getting pretty uncontrollable again right now.

"Sh.. Sh, you're alright. You're okay." Louis whispered softly, finally able to wrap his arms around Harry and place underneath his thighs to hold him up. He moved back to the door and inside the house, kicking it shut. Then he brought Harry to the living room. He had quite some difficulty carrying him but he managed and didnt complain once.

He sat down on the sofa and used his hand now to rub up and down Harry's back. "Sh.. Harry, you're gonna make yourself sick. Breathe."

Harry shook his head and held onto Louis tighter, practically soaking his shoulder.

"Yes. Breathe. I don't want you to hurt yourself. Okay? Please, H, just breathe. I'll breathe with you again." Louis spoke and then they started to breathe again. Louis started out and after a while of feeling Louis breathe, Harry started to copy his breathing. It took minutes more before Harry was no linger sobbing and choking and only gave soft whimpers and small hiccups instead.

"That's it.. Good. You're fine now, yeah?" Louis said and gently pushed Harry back to be able to look at his face. It was red and blotchy and his eyes were vibrant green because of how bloodshot his eyes were. Not to mention his whole face was wet with tears and his like bruised purple. Louis suspected Harry tried biting them to control his sobs.

"N-not fine.." Harry mumbled as Louis used the sleeves of his shirt to wipe gently at Harry's face.

"Wanna talk about it?" Louis asked. Harry shook his head a bit but then after a couple seconds of silence, nodding his head. "Go ahead, love. I'm listening."

"D-Dotty has tumors in her liver and on her spine. Th-they said it was cancerous. And-and they took her away three days ago and they called me and said she won't make it longer than a week. And.. And I told them I didnt want her to suffer anymore. S-so they put her down. And.. And I dont know what to do with myself. I dont.. I let her get sick and she was so-so tiny and cute and happy. I can't believe she's gone. She was just a baby! And now—now Pickles is so sad and lost. He doesn't know or understand what happened to his sister. They were inseparable." Harry babbled out sadly and when his bottom lip started to wobble with a wave of new sobs, Louis gently held his face in his hands and caressed his thumbs under his eyes.

"No no.. No more tears. You did the right thing, Harry. You didnt make her sick but you helped her so she didnt suffer through anything.. That's so brave of you. I'm sure she had the best months of her life here with you. You gave her that." Louis whispered softly. "Dont blame yourself.. You're perfect."

Harry just sniffled a bit more and moved to just lean back down and press his face against Louis' neck sadly. He didnt think he was perfect at all.


	19. That Wasn't Supposed To Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,200

Harry wasn't the same since he had to put Dotty down. That feeling is the worst feeling anyone could ever endure, losing a pet. Especially one of the first he's ever had and one so young and so tiny. His animals are his children, it was like a piece of him was ripped out of his heart. Anything to ever lead to that moment didnt prepare him for it. Thankfully Louis was there to help him cope and help him get a bit better. He would never be perfectly alright but he could get a bit better.

Louis stayed the night at his house that night Harry cried on his shoulder. He stayed in a guest room which eventually turned into Harry's room because Harry couldn't stop crying when he was alone and when he wasn't being cuddled. Neither of them questioned the state of their relationship at that point. Acquaintances don't exactly cuddle each other like they did. But who cares.

It's been exactly one week and Harry didnt go in to work, let all of the responsibility fall onto everyone else's shoulders. They premiered in exactly two months and Harry was in a funk that he couldn't get out of. The animals even noticed and the atmosphere around the house was glum and dark and depressed. Pickles suffered the most and always meowed at the bed that Dotty used to have that Harry didn't have the strength to get rid of. It was just a very terrible time.

Harry talked to his mother daily and told her everything that she needed to hear about what happened these last months. She gave the only advice he needed to hear because it was a mothers advice and there was nothing better than that. She made him cry sometimes but it was always something that turned out right. He loved his mother so much.

It was Tuesday again when there was another knock on his door. Harry wasn't too distraught like the last time he had to answer the door for someone so he easily walked to the door, eyes dull and bags underneath his eyes. Mr. Sprinkles was at his feet as he pulled the door open. He came face to face with Louis, which made him frown.

"Uh..."

"Sorry.. I just... You're not answering your emails again." Louis spoke and then they both just stood there for a moment in silence. Then Harry noticed there was a large box in Louis' arms.

"What's that?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit. Louis looked down at the box and gave a small smile.

"Got it made for you. I read an interview you did and you said your favourite cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting..."

Harry's heart would have melted of it wasn't already too occupied being shattered.

"You got me a cake?" He asked instead, biting down on his bottom lip before he just shook his head and moved to step to the side, in the process pushing Mr. Sprinkles back as well. Then he opened the door a bit wider. "Come in.. Set it down in the kitchen. You didnt have to bring me a cake. Its not even my birthday."

Louis shrugged as he stepped into the house. Then he kicked off his shoes. "I know its not." Is all he said before he went straight for the kitchen. Harry shut the door before turning around, following Louis into the kitchen.

"Then what's the cake for?" He asked, stepping over and then peeking over Louis' shoulder as he set the cake down.

"Its a—" Louis spoke as he opened the cake box. But then he read the writing on it and blushed a deep shade of red. "Oh god... Oh god that's not what they were supposed to write... That wasn't supposed to happen."

Harry got a better look at the cake when Louis turned his head to the side to try and shy away. Then he read over the tiny writing written in a black frosting on the large cake.

_Say happy birthday. Ha ha ha don't put that it's not his birthday. Write I'm sorry for your loss x x Lewis_

Harry was quiet for a moment before he bit both of his lips and then eventually that wasn't enough and he was barking out a laugh, covering his mouth. He continued to laugh enough to have to stumble away and hold onto the countertop by the sink.

Louis pouted the entire time that Harry laughed but he figured that a laughing Harry was better than a sad and crying Harry. But the person who did his cake was a terrible person for putting all of that. Its called common sense.

"They—they did _not_ write all of that!" Harry laughed out.

"I told them not to! God, they literally wrote my terrible babbles onto the cake!" Louis whined out and Harry just giggled softly, wiping his eyes a bit. Then Harry looked back over at the cake and he laughed loudly again.

"What now? I think you've laughed enough." Louis stated and placed his hands on his hips.

"Lewis!" Harry wheezed out.

Louis frowned and then looked back at the cake and then just widened his eyes. "They even spelt me name wrong!"

That made Harry just die with more laughter, his entire body practically shaking with all of his laughter. Louis couldn't help but to smile as well because of the fact that Harry's laugh was a bit contagious. He was also just glad that Harry was able to laugh about this instead of being upset at the words on the cake. It was nice, actually. Really nice.

Harry controlled himself after a good while before they just both went back to the cake and gazed at it. Then Harry managed to convince Louis to lean close to the cake with a sad face for a photo. Which he posted on Instagram with the caption 'You tried @Louist91' with about two laughing emojis. Then they got to cutting the cake into two pieces.

"This cake is amazing. Thank you so much for this, Louis, I really needed this." Harry commented as they sat down at the table and started to eat.

"Yeah, you're welcome. I'm glad that I got to hear you laugh again. Its nice." Louis stated as he picked at his own cake, smiling a bit.

Harry hummed. "Yeah.. Its been a while. Just hard, you know?" He asked softly. "You're really helping me a lot. The little things you've done for me since that.. Tragedy happened, is just so sweet and it means so much to me. You're the best. So thank you."

Louis just reached over and gently placed a hand down against Harry's free hand, giving it a small squeeze. "You don't have to thank me.. I like helping you."

Harry smiled down at the way Louis held his hand and just looked back at his cake, taking another bite. Neither of them moved their hands as they both finished off their pieces of cake and it was all okay for once within the last month. Harry couldn't ask for anything better, honestly.

 


	20. The Nursery Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,106

"Louis.."

"No."

"Louis.."

"No."

"Louis!"

"No!"

"Louis Louis Louis Louis Louis Louis Louis Lou—"

"Oh my God! Fine!"

Harry grinned widely and clapped his hands together in joy as he stood up from the sofa. "Yes! Come on, let's go."

"I'm only doing this because its the only thing that I know will make you happy." Louis stated, pointing a finger to Harry who just grinned and nodded.

"You know what else will make me happy?"

"Hm?"

"Bringing me another piece of cake to eat in the car." And with that, Harry raced out of the room and then a second later, Louis heard the door opening and shutting. He closed his eyes, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. That boy was just... He has no words.

So that's how Louis ended up driving while Harry sat in the passenger seat with his feet against the dashboard and eating a slice of cake happily. He is surprisingly the cleanest eater Louis had ever seen. If the roles were switched, Louis probably would have gotten cake everywhere at that point but Harry was so graceful and soundless and he just didnt understand how not one crumb was being spilt.

Speaking of which, he should pay more attention to the road and not on Harrys eating habits.

Eventually, Louis parked the car in the lot in front of the store and then turned the car off. Harry had been grinning at this point and just unbuckled, opening the door to get out. He even brought his plate and fork out to go toss in the trash. He really just threw out a silver fork like it was plastic. Rich people.

Harry glanced back at Louis before he just gave a small smile, waving him over. "Come on. I have to pick out a colour to paint the room." He explained. He managed to convince Louis to help decorate the nursery, or more like pick out decorations for the nursery, so he was going to go all out.

When they got inside, Louis holding the door open for Harry, he instantly went to the paint. They had to get that and then go to another store for a crib and a dresser and a changer and a high chair and everything he could possibly get besides clothes because he doesn't know the gender yet. Well... He doesn't know if he's getting a baby yet and who from but still. He'll eventually have a baby so he has to be prepared.

"Ooh, Louis, how about this one?" Harry spoke as he held about ten swatches of paint, turning to face Louis when he finally was next to him. 

"Which one?" Louis asked as he looked down at the paint.

"This one!"

Louis just stared. "I know you're trying to show me one but I just don't understand which one you're trying to show me."

Harry groaned and then looked down. "Okay. Fourth one from the right."

"Oh. I mean, I don't know if blue is—"

"My right not your right!"

"Oh! The purple one!" Louis exclaimed and when Harry rolled his eyes and nodded, Louis felt accomplished. "I don't like the darkness of it. Maybe if it was a—"

Harry groaned and then pushed all of the  cards into one hand before showing just the purple one with the other.

"Oh! There's different shades on one swatch! Thats so cool." Louis said. Harry was shopping with an idiot.

"You're no help. At all." Harry deadpanned. Louis only just gave a wide grin. "All I want to know is if you like the colour purple. Its good for its a boy or a girl. Its a neutral colour and it will create that calming nature for the baby's room." Harry added, shrugging a bit and then just looking closer at the colour swatch with the four different shades of purple on it. He liked the third one down.

"Proudly purple?"

Harry looked over to see Louis leaning close to read over his shoulder at the paint.

"Thats actually a colour? Proudly purple? Why not happily purple? Sweetly purple? Disgustingly purple?" Louis ranted off and Harry hated himself for giggling at his words. He wasn't even funny.

"Thats actually the colour I wanted to pick for the nursery." Harry said and then just looked back at the colour. "Its so mellow yet out there. And its gender neutral for its a boy or a girl." He explained.

"What happened to the colour yellow?" Louis asked. Harry was honestly shocked that he remembered that.

"Yellow is too bright for me. I read about it and bright colours could alter a baby's mood drastically and I want my baby to be calm and share a living vibe." Harry explained with an easy nod of his head. "This purple works. Let's get three cases of the purple."

"Three buckets, you mean?"

"Same thing."

Louis only laughed fondly as Harry started to prance away to find an employee. He was glad to see Harry not sulking and crying about everything anymore. It was a good change.

"Excuse me, sir, can you help me find this paint?" Harry spoke, tapping a guy on the shoulder. He turned around and glanced at Harry, frowning.

"Oh.. No, I dont work here."

"Well then why are you wearing a blue shirt? You can't just walk in here and wear a blue shirt that matches the uniform of the actual workers. Its misleading." Harry complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Is it illegal to wear a blue shirt?" The man spoke.

"No—"

"Then back off."

Louis stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak but Harry beat him to it. "Excuse me, sir, but I had made an honest mistake and I gave my opinion. If you want to go to a store and not be bothered, don't wear the colour of someone who works here. And you dont have to be rude at all to me about sharing my opinion because there's this thing in the entire country where it not illegal to share an opinion. The world needs to be a happier place and you dont need to go around spreading negativity. I hope you have a splendid day, non-employee." And with that, Harry turned around and walked away.

Louis followed him for a moment before he was in step besides him. "That was totally your fault that he got mad, though."

"I know. I felt like arguing."

Louis stopped walking, watching Harry continue on to find an actual employee. He had a smile grazing his lips and just laughed. What even is this boy?

 


	21. Baby Shoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,061

"Harry. Come on. You've got enough stuff." Louis complained, looking up at Harry. He was currently sitting down on a box that contained a baby swing. He hoped if he sat on it, Harry wouldn't notice it and want to buy it as well.

"But, Lou! They have tiny little baby shoes!" Harry exclaimed from somewhere else. Thats definitely not where Louis remembered leaving him.

"Harold!"

"Look! Its baby boots! They even have baby converse! Oh my God, they have baby Timberland's."

Louis groaned loudly. Harry seemed to not understand that Louis wanted to literally leave and not be here any longer. They have a cart full of tons of baby shit already. Harry had baby utensils, baby proofing items (which okay Louis liked those), bibs, onsies, fifteen packs of diapers, twenty packs of baby wipes, dummy's, chew toys, regular toys, outfits that he decided weren't gender specific and that would look adorable on a girl or a boy.. And on the bottom he had a boxed up highchair. Louis was done.

"Harry!" Louis called out again.

"Fine! Jesus!" Harry called back and walked back to the cart where he had baby monitors, five pairs of baby shoes, beanies, and a baby lotion and baby safe q-tips in his arms. Where the hell did he find all of that? Louis swore he was just by the shoes the entire time. This boy is absolutely nuts.

"Okay. I think I'm— oh my god is that a baby swing?" Harry spoke as he glanced down at what Louis was sitting on. But then Louis closed his legs and shook his head, hiding the photo.

"No. No it is not." Harry stared at him. "Harry, come on! You've got more than enough baby shit!"

"Not a baby swing!" Harry whined out and gave Louis a hard pout. It was practically a stare down between the both of them before Louis gave in and just groaned the entire time he moved to stand back up, stepping to the side for Harry to look at the baby swing. It made Harry grin widely and to Louis, maybe it was all worth it in the end. That smile was everything. He thinks its the dimples.

Louis had come to terms with his attraction towards Harry at this point. He had so many thoughts that he just decided to stop trying to scold himself every time and just go with it. And it wasn't half bad, liking Harry came with some perks. Enjoying his beauty was one of them. Yes, thats a perk.

"It's even neutral colours! Its white and a really light green! Or maybe that's a light teal colour." Harry explained and then just looked back at Louis with a small nod. "I'm getting this. Definitely getting this. And now we just need one of those baby walker things. You know the one? Where you put the baby in and there's like games and stuff around him but its on wheels so when the baby is old enough, they can just start walking."

Louis reached up and rubbed a hand down his face. "Harold..."

"I'll find it. You just bring that to the front with the cart, please!"

Before Louis was able to speak another word, Harry was already skipping off to find what he was looking for. He didnt even have a kid yet or even got approved or even sent in applications to the adoptive parents to get approved. Then again, he was prepared. Which was good.

"This boy.. Making me do shit. What if I dont want to bring the stuff to the front, huh? What if I just wanted to go home and watch the telly? But no.. I have to drag baby crap over to the front. He asks me to take charge but does he ever think that maybe I dont want to?" Louis grumbled to himself and he dragged the box with the baby swing to the cart. There wasn't any room. He didnt want to put it in the cart because he could possibly break the other things and the highchair box took up the bottom of the cart.

So.. There he was, balancing the box between his chest and the cart as he slowly pushed it to the front to check out. He stumbled along the way but he never once let the box drop. He called that an accomplishment.

"Finally! There he is, that's the rest of the stuff." Harry spoke up and Louis finally looked over and saw him standing by a checkout stand.

"You're here? And you didnt bother to like... Oh, I dont know, actually come back to help me?" Louis spoke up, frowning. Though, Harry started to laugh and he had to question if he was truly upset with him anymore. Damn him, though. Damn him to heaven, though, because he's too pretty for hell.

"Well.. It was humorous watching you waddle your way over here. I timed just how long it took you and it took you five minutes, twenty seven seconds exactly to get right here." Harry grinned before he finally stepped over and grabbed for the box between Louis and the cart and then just slid that over for the lady to ring up.

"Oh. So you're a smart arse now." Louis stated, unable to stop the grin from forming on his lips. Again, how could be that upset with Harry when he was like this? Today he was being very extra with everything and it was almost to the point where Louis just wanted to squeeze him and never let go. For others benefit, though, because he's already got into one purposeful fight today. Also, he's cute.

"Shut up and out the stuff on the belt for her to ring up." Harry spoke up and Louis complied.

~

"I still can't believe you spent like five hundred pounds on baby stuff today." Louis spoke as they set everything they had in an empty room. Louis decided that this is the nursery room Harry wants for the baby.

"Mhm. Only the best for my baby." Harry grinned before he just looked around the room. He already decided to have professional painters come and use the paint he bought to do the room. But then Harry turned to Louis with wide eyes. "I forgot a crib."

"No! No! Absolutely not!"


	22. The Perfect Crib

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,015

"I can't believe you dragged me back here."

Harry ignored him and just walked right inside the store again, heading straight for the section of cribs. If Louis didnt rush him, he wouldn't have skipped over this entire section and forgot a crib. The most necessary thing to have and he forgot it.

"I know you're excited but I have smaller legs than you do, Harold, and I physically can not keep up."

Harry huffed a bit and then just turned around to face Louis, crossing his arms over his chest. Louis was about five feet away from him so it didn't take long to get close.

"You complain so much about everything." Harry commented with a small nod of his head. "Like.. Its abnormal how much you complain. And my name is not Harold."

"Okay, Harlot, let's backtrack—"

"I'm going to kick you in the balls."

"Ouch.. Anyways. Let's backtrack." Louis stated, making Harry roll his eyes but gave a small smile anyways. "I complained because you had me stuck in a store with baby stuff for like twelve hours. I look at baby stuff for a living. It gets to be a bit too much. And secondly, you honestly touch everything you see in a store and it makes a trip that should be an hour turn into about five."

That made Harry's pout make another appearance. "But if I dont touch everything, how would I know what I need?"

Louis just sighed. "Its so hard arguing with you because you're literally the most nicest person in the world."

Harry grinned. "Good. Then the argument is settled. Now, cribs." And with that, Harry turned back around and continued his tread towards the cribs.

Louis shook his head a bit and then just laughed softly, following behind him. He felt like they'd never be able to argue properly because Louis literally couldn't keep it up for too long because Harry either pouts (which he couldn't resist and he knows Harry knows that) or Harry just hits him with some facts (most that he's sure is completely made up) and he just can't say anything because he knew Harry would go all day. He couldn't risk that.

Harry hummed softly to himself as he looked over the cribs he passes, letting his hands gently trace over the smooth finish of each crib as he passed. He would stop at one and look at it for a while but then he would just go onto the next. He even turned his nose at some as if they weren't close to being good enough. Honestly, it was pretty funny to watch. Harry was dead silent and he never spent more than five seconds at one crib. Sometimes he would look at the price if he thought it was suitable but that was a deal breaker.

"Alright. You are literally a millionaire, close to being a billionaire. What does price matter?" Louis eventually asked Harry.

"If the price is too small for a crib, it makes me know that there's something wrong with it." Harry stated.

"Because paying a reasonable and affordable amount for a crib that the baby is going to use for maybe two years just won't do."

"Exactly." Harry nodded. Louis doesn't think that he understands sarcasm at all.

Harry continued looking around each crib he was passing, a very content yet concentrated look on his face. Harry had to make sure he looked at every crib to make sure he didnt miss anything. He wanted the absolute perfect crib for the baby hes going to have.

"Harry. Hey. What about this one?" Louis spoke up. Harry glanced up, looking over at where Louis was. He was in front of a crib and pointing at one so Harry decided to move forward and check out the crib that Louis was pointing at, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Its got a changing table attached and everything. Not to mention the wood it was made out of is like mahogany or something. It would look really nice against the walls with the purple you picked out." Louis explained, trying to act like he knew what he was talking about. He wasn't too good with this stuff. Only good about getting babies into loving homes. Come to think of it, everything that happened with Harry was a first for him. He never went to someone's house unless it was an arranged meeting and he never comforted someone at night because they couldn't sleep alone.

"I like this one." Harry spoke, breaking Louis out of his trance. He moved to gently run his hands over the polished wood work of the crib. The bed was high but not too high to where the baby could easily climb out of but not low enough to where Harry would have to bend down too much to put the baby to bed and tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. It was a good crib. "I like this one. I want this one."

Louis smiled at Harry and nodded. "I totally picked out the perfect crib for the worlds most pickiest father."

Harry paused for a second and then looked back at Louis over his shoulder.  "You just called me a father.."

Louis nodded. "I did."

Harry got a small smile on his lips before looked back at the crib and then just giving a small laugh. "I'm gonna be a father." He mumbled, shaking his head a bit. Hearing Louis say it so nonchalantly made it sound realer than ever. And it may have made Harry a bit emotional to where he had to bring his hands up and cover his face.

Louis instantly moved forward and just hugged Harry, who leaned down into his hold with small sniffles.

"I just really love the crib."

"Yeah, babe. That's exactly why you're crying." Louis grinned.

Harry just nodded his head. "Its just so beautiful." He mumbled out and Louis heard a small sob coming from him. He's just glad these were happy tears he finally gets to hold Harry out of.


	23. Casual Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,000

"I think I should have gone with the yellow." Harry spoke softly, hands on his hips as he stood in the middle of the room, eyes looking around.

"Harry, if you called me over here to help unpack and put the room together just to have me take it all down so you can repaint, I'm going to tell mum." Gemma stated, hands against her own hips as she looked towards her brother.

"Hey! I really think that just because you're older doesn't mean you have to do anything I tell you to do." Harry stated.

"What the hell does that have to do with what I just said? That doesn't even make sense." Gemma spoke, making Harry glance back at her.

"It means everything." He stated. Gemma just shook her head with a small laugh. "Plus. Mum would know what to say to me. You're just criticizing me."

Gemma stepped closer to Harry, placing a hand down against his shoulder. "I think the purple looks amazing. Plus, yellow is such a bright colour. Don't need to give the baby hyper vibes."

"That's exactly what I said!" Harry exclaimed and then just grinned at Gemma. That seemed to be the deciding factor. If Gemma thought the same about the yellow then it must be true. He chose a great colour.

Gemma nodded. "Well if you said it, it has to be true. I mean, Harry. You're smart and all. Wouldn't be a director if you weren't."

Harry smiled sweetly. "Thats true."

"Yet... You didnt finish uni so I'm still smarter than you are since I at least have a degree."

"Gemma, get out of my house."

~

"And that's why I think that there's no coincidences and that everything happens for a reason."

Louis stared at Harry for a solid minute in silence, looking down at his hands where he held a box of angel hair pasta and a box of fettuccine noodles in the other. Then he looked back up at Harry. "I.. I literally asked what kind of pasta you wanted."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Were you not listening? Angel hair."

Louis frowned for a moment before he just slowly turned around and set the fettuccine noodles down to the side and just opened the box of angel hair. He honestly doesn't understand Harry when he speaks. How he ever became a director with people actually listening and following his orders was beyond him. It baffles him.

What baffled him the most was when Harry sent him an email (yes, an email, even though he has his phone number and could have texted him without having to compose an email) to join him for dinner. Of course, he didnt expect dinner to consist of Harry not having a plan for dinner until he had to get to the kitchen and find something he could make. It was all worth it, though. He liked being with Harry. Even if this wasn't a date and just two lads hanging out... Ladding about and doing what lads do in a laddy way. He's so glad he didn't say any of that out loud.

"—then she said that she didnt want to get her hair dyed and I was like 'first of all your hair is dead already so there's no harm done' and then she got all pissed but I mean, I didnt lie." That's when Louis tuned back in and he was honestly not sure what Harry was talking about.

"Well, if her hair was dead already, I'm sure there's no harm done in dying it to make it look better." He spoke, hoping that he sounded like he was listening the whole time.

"Yes! Thank you!" Harry exclaimed, moving to walk over to the stove where Louis was. Then he just hopped up onto the counter and crossed his ankles. "Did you put the pink salt in the water before putting the noodles in?"

Louis looked up at him. "Was I supposed to?"

Harry sighed softly. "Louis. Putting salt in water makes it boil faster and makes the noodles cook better and get more tender and soft."

"Oh, no shit." Louis raised his eyebrows and looked down at the water that was bubbling up.

"Mhm. I mean, any salt will work, really. But I like the Himalayan pink salt because its supposedly better for you. And, to me, it tastes a lot better." Harry nodded, leaning down a bit to blow into the pot so the bubbles didnt overflow from the pot. Which happened to Louis before. He left to take a wee and when he got back he heard a lot of sizzling and thought that his kitchen was set on fire. But it wasn't and he just took the pot off and let the bubbles die down.

"Are you saying it tastes better just because its pink? Because I'm pretty sure that's racist." Louis commented, making Harry gasp and reach over to slap his arm.

"Dont say those things! I am not. You can get into trouble being racist and I promise you that I am not. Everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly because we're all humans no matter the colour of our skin or the clothes on our backs." He scolded Louis before just shaking his head. "And yes, everything that's pink does taste good and thats not racist."

Louis could only laugh and just moved to open the container of pasta sauce, getting the smaller pot to pour that in. "Why dont you make yourself useful and make the garlic bread?"

"Useful? I am useful!" Harry exclaimed, hopping down from the countertop. "I'm not making it because you told me to, I'm making it because I want to."

"Sure, babe, sure."

Harry turned and stuck his tongue out at Louis' back where he couldn't see him and then just walked to the dining table where the bread and butter and garlic salt was. "And dont call me babe, either."

"Alright, Snuffleupagus."

"What the fuck."

 


	24. One And One Makes A Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1,051

"The pasta is abnormally chewy."

"No its not!"

"Lou, I've seen the pancakes you can make. I mean, just because your food is edible and you dont burn the house down doesn't mean its necessarily good." Harry commented, twirling his fork with pasta over his spoon to get the perfect portion onto his fork. Honestly, Louis never knew thats why restaurants gave a spoon with a pasta dish.

"Those pancakes looked like shit but they tasted amazing." Louis stated firmly, trying to copy Harry and act like he knew the proper way to eat pasta.

"Dont lie to yourself. That's not polite." Harry stated, taking his perfect bite of pasta while Louis held his up with pieces hanging off the fork still. He gave up.

"You're such a snarky little shit." Louis said, taking his bite while he looked over at Harry. The boy only folded his napkin and dabbed at the corners of his mouth. He really did that. This boy...

"You secretly enjoy it." Harry teased.

"Never." Louis stated instantly, mouth still full of pasta. Harry didnt even flinch so that was something. Louis then felt a buzz on his bum, reaching down and grabbing his phone from his back pocket. He had an email. Swallowing, he looked over at Harry. Before he could say something like 'answering your phone while having dinner with someone is super duper rude' because Harry would say something like that, he just stood up. "This is work, excuse me."

Harry gave a small pout but nodded his head anyways and just looked back down at his pasta and twirling another damn perfect bite that taunts Louis.

Louis left the kitchen, moving to the living room and unlocking his phone. He then let his eyes scan over the email he had recieved, placing a hand on his hip as he concentrated. Before long, his lips curled into a smile and he just put his phone back in his pocket. "Harry!"

There was a rustling sound before Harry was walking to the living room as well, hands clasped together in front of himself. "Yeah?"

"So.. I've got the best news in the world." Louis started saying, making Harry give a smile and nodded for him to go on. "That was my work. And that email contained information about a family that has accepted your paperwork and your offer to house their child. They are wanting to schedule a meeting between you and them before they finalize everything since they have four other people to get through, though, but still."

The colour in Harry's face seemed to disappear and all that was left was a pale face of shock. Louis was almost concerned for a moment. Even though he knew for a fact that this is what Harry had been wanting for a long time. He opened his mouth to say something else but Harry beat him to it by giving out a small sob and just ran over to jump on Louis. Yes, he literally jumped onto him. Thankfully Louis was paying attention and was able to save himself from what could have been a painful fall and instead wrapped his arms around Harry. That didn't stop them both going to the sofa to sit down, though. Harry was taller than him so it was a bit hard to hold him up. This morning wasnt the first time Harry's jumped on him so he knew the basic feel of it but he still wasn't used to it.

"Are you crying again?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I just.. I can't believe this. I can't —" he had to cut himself off because there were too many thoughts running through his head that they didnt come to his mouth at a pace enough for him to speak actual words and sentences.

"Its alright. I know." Louis whispered softly, moving his hand to gently rub over Harry's back a bit.

Eventually Harry pulled back, eyes clear of tears like he had said, and looked down at Louis. "Thank you so much." He whispered softly, arms moving around Louis' neck lightly and just gently pushing into the boys hair.

Louis nodded, eyes staying on Harry. He knew his feelings for the boy, even if they're just small feelings, so being this close to him brought all of those back. And Harry wasn't pulling away either so maybe he liked him, too? Louis wasn't sure because this isn't something he talked with him about since this isn't what his job description allowed. Harry looked really good, though..

"I —"

"Kiss me."

They both froze.

"Kiss you?" Harry asked softly.

"I mean.. No.. I didn't — wow. I dont know why I said that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Louis quickly said with a small shake of his head. Stupid.

"Didnt mean it?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "You wouldn't want to kiss me?"

"What? God. No. I mean. Yes. I would kiss you. I just didnt mean to say that out loud and—" Louis was cut off when Harry just tugged his hair, making his head tilt back, and leaned down to press their lips together.

Louis wished he never said anything but he also wished he said something sooner. He closed his eyes and just let the feeling of their lips together go straight down his body and give a shiver down his spine. He knew Harry felt the same because where his hands were placed on his hips, he felt the boys body shiver and shift to get closer. Louis was the one to tilt his head to the side to try and deepen the kiss, wanting more than what he was being given because of the way that he's been wanting this subconsciously for a while.

"Lou.." Harry mumbled softly, moving his hand down the boys chest. "Take.. Take me upstairs?"

Louis pulled away for a moment, moving to instead let his lips kiss over Harry's neck, trailing kisses down to his collarbone. Then he just moved his hands down to his thighs to keep hold of before he got himself to stand. He stumbled a bit because of the way that Harry was once again taller but he didnt fall so that's a start.

He hoped neither of them would regret this later. Which was almost inevitable.

 


	25. Get Out

When Louis was able to bring Harry upstairs (quite successfully even though Harry was a huge monster in his arms. It made Louis proud of himself) he went to where he remembered the boys room was. Harry's lips were attached to his neck the entire way there and it gave Louis a boost to be able to function properly so they don't end up falling or making this situation seem awkward at all.

Once in the room, Louis went straight to the bed and lowered Harry down onto it. He was about to crawl over him until Harry shook his head. "The door! The door the door the door." He babbled. "Beast likes to eavesdrop." He explained.

Louis merely laughed a bit and moved back to shut the door, making sure to lock it since the animals here are smart. He didnt know if Harry taught them how to open doors, he wouldn't be surprised if they did. After that, Louis turned back to the bed and went over, climbing over him. He had one hand on either side of Harry's head, hovering over him and just admiring Harry's features for a moment. He had a beautiful crimson blush covering his cheeks and his lips pulled between his teeth. His eyes held a darkness to them with lust but also a light that meant he was trying to hold back.

"Do you want this?" Harry whispered softly, reaching up and brushing his hand through Louis' hair that was hanging down besides his face and over his forehead.

"I really do.." He whispered. He felt the familiar tug of his heart when Harry gave a smile.

"Kiss me."

Louis didn't need to be told twice to lean down and press their lips together again. He should be worried about doing this. They weren't drunk so that wasn't an excuse. That means they're level headed and they're deciding this in good conscience. Which will either make the morning after difficult or make it easier to deal with. Louis eventually snapped out of his state of mind when he felt Harry's arms around his neck to use as leverage so he could buck his hips up against his own. That wasn't what got him, though. The soft moan that erupted from the boys lips is what made him melt down and push his own hips down to rub their hips together to get that same sound out of Harry's lips again.

~

Harry stretched a bit the next morning, yawning softly to himself. He had a sore feeling in his lower back and in his bum but it only made him smile. He turned around and placed his hand over, expecting to feel Louis besides him but his hand hit the bed instead. With a small frown, Harry blinked his eyes open and saw the bed was empty. He looked around a bit more, thinking that maybe Louis was in the bathroom. The door was open and the light was off, though, so that was out of the question. Sitting up, Harry just placed his hands on either side of his lap, not sure what to think or what to do. Then the thought of Louis cooking breakfast came to his mind and he just grinned to himself. So, he shifted off the bed, going to the closet and pulling on a pair of sweats and a plain white v-neck before he left the room.

However, when he got to the bottom of the stairs, he didnt smell a thing and he found the kitchen empty. There was a small sinking feeling in his chest, helplessly looking around the downstairs. He found nothing. There was no trace of Louis ever being there, either.

Harry ended up feeding his dogs, cats, guinea pigs, otter, fish, and pig before he just sulked back up to his room and slowly crawled back into bed, covering himself with the blanket. He doesn't like how heartache felt at all. It was the worst kind of pain that anyone could feel. Harry wished that this wasn't the second time he was feeling this way. At least this time wasn't as bad as the first. That doesn't mean that it didnt hurt still, though.

~

"Thats a wrap, everyone! Well done, give yourself a round of applause. I won’t say too much since I know you’re tired and probably want to sleep for weeks but thank you so much for all your hard work! This has been the most incredible team effort with an incredible cast. I know for sure that we’ve created something very special here and I'm so excited to share the end product around the world." Harry spoke out, eyes traveling between the entire cast stood, or sat, in the end scene to the movie. It was a large space where people were set to have came to heal from all of the attacks happened with the dinosaurs. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, many people clapping Harry on the back and hugging each other as they all congratulated everyone there. The room slowly shrunk as people walked out to clear and get showered and cleaned up of the makeup used to show cuts or scars or dirt and grime.

Harry worked everyone to the bone ever since that night where he was left. He barely gave breaks and they got done earlier than scheduled. It was good, though. The actors showed genuine exhaustion and it brought out normality in what should be fiction. He enjoyed how it turned out. He couldn't ask for any better of an outcome, truthfully. The movie was going to be a huge milestone in his career.

Once everyone was gone, Harry went back to his trailer, noticing the door was already cracked. He gave a small frown before just moving closer and pulling the door open, stepping up into it. What he saw made him freeze right there in his spot. "Get out."

Louis turned around, facing Harry with a small bouquet of flowers in his hands, a heart box of chocolates in the bouquet as well. "Um.. I just...I heard filming was dine today. Wanted to come—"

"I dont give a fuck what you wanted to do. Get the fuck out of my God damn trailer before I call security to toss your arse out to the curb." Harry interrupted, arms folded over his chest as he glared in Louis' general direction. He could see the light in Louis' eyes dim but he didnt care. Not after what happened.

"Harry.."

"I said get out!" Harry shouted, literally stomping his foot down as he did so, eyes closing to try and control whether he had tears or not. No way in hell was he going to let Louis see him cry.

"Okay.." Louis mumbled, moving to walk past Harry to get to the door.

"Leave the chocolate." Harry stated before Louis could leave. The boy nodded and moved to gently place the bouquet down on one of the tables and then turned to leave the trailer again. Harry didn't move for about three minutes total before he just snatched the box of chocolates, shoving the bouquet in the trash, and plopping down onto one of the sofas. He sniffles, opening the box of chocolates. There's a note in it but Harry just have a soft sob and then ripped it up, tossing it to the floor. If he spent the next hour eating chocolate and crying then no one needs to know.


	26. One And Only part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,302

"Gotta clean, gotta clean.. Beast, go away! I'm trying to sweep and you sitting on all of the piles isn't helping!" Harry complained, voice whining as if Beast was actually able to understand the concept of it. Which he didn't, of course. When Beast didn't move and only laid out, belly up, on a pile he swept up, Harry groaned. Then he just moved to lean down and quite literally heaved the dog up and walked him to the living room. "Jesus, Beast! You're not helping! I cant have you acting up today, you cant possibly be disobedient. We've got important people coming over today."

The dog only gave a small huff and just stretched out on the floor without a care in the world. At least it was no longer on his piles he swept up. That dog is going to give him a cyst if he keeps it up. Then again, Harry loved him more than anything. So, with everything out of the way, Harry was able to finally sweep up and dust off every inch of furniture and knick knacks he owned, shining the telly and windows. Everything had to be perfect. Spotless.

It wasn't until he was setting out little hor d'oeuvres on the island in the kitchen did the doorbell ring. He gave a small squeal, quickly running to the mirror in the hall to fix himself presentable. The animals were well trained enough to know the doorbell meant sitting in lines in the living room and that was good. They needed to be obedient if they wanted this to work out. Harry gave a soft sigh and nodded, moving to go to the door. He closed his eyes, taking in a soft breath before he put on a smile and pulled open the door.

"Hello. Please, come in. Make yourselves at home." He spoke easily to the couple outside, stepping aside and opening the door wonder.

The woman, hand against her bulging stomach, had her eyes widening as she looked around at the large house. She walked on first and the man behind her, looking just as amazing as the woman. They both wore nice clothes and Harry sensed that the mans suit was tailored and the woman's clothes were from a line of pregnancy clothing but he couldn't pinpoint where. When they were inside, he shut the door and then just folded his hands in front of himself.

"This is beautiful.." The woman finally spoke. "Absolutely astonishing. You're so young, too, its an amazing thing to have gotten you able to get this kind of lifestyle."

Harry only shrugged. "Its the only thing I bought for myself with my money. I wanted a big house because i wanted others to share it with. But.. Its just me now. Well, and all the animals."

"That's right. You've grown yourself your own zoo." The male spoke and if he hadn't have been smiling in a teasing manner, Harry would have been embarrassed. Instead he smiled back.

"I suppose so. They're all well trained, though, I assure you. In fact, the doorbell means to sit in the living room for them. If you'd like, the dogs and cats should be there now. They're also trained not to jump.. So, you can go say hello and familiarise yourself with them." Harry spoke up, biting down on his bottom lip.

The woman nodded easily and just looked to Harry for a moment befkre he realised it was to lead her in the direction. His house was big so its understandable. He smiled kindly before stepping forward and leading the couple to the direction of the living room. There was the dogs and cats as promised. The dogs tails were wagging wildly but the cats were merely just laying down as if without a care in the world. Harry found that they really didn't care for attention unless its to be fed treats or whenever they themselves want attention. The dogs, though, they cant get enough of it.

"Oh, goodness.." The lady trailed off. "Look at all of them. They're beautiful, arent they, honey?"

"They are.. You've got quite the variety." The male spoke, looking back at Harry. "May we?"

"Oh, of course! They don't bite, I promise. let them smell your hand first and then they'll be your friend forever." Harry said with a small smile. He took a small step back as the two walked forward, kneeling down to greet themselves with the dogs and cats. The dogs instantly warmed up to them and licked and nudged against them, the cats being a bit more hesitant but it was all running smoothly. Harry was so glad.

"They're absolutely lovely!" The lady exclaimed with a happy giggle. "I adore them all so much already."

Harry smiled softly. "They seem to adore you two as well. I suppose this is a good sign." He laughed.

"We night just have to do the whole visit from right here." The man said with a laugh. "Unless you can get her to get up."

Harry shrugged. "I mean, I've got snacks."

"There it is." The man said when the lady looked back at Harry. He laughed a bit and helped her up as they got to their feet. His hand held the ladies waist and Harry felt a pinch of sadness hit. He wants a love like the one he's witnessing right now.

"Alright... Uh, well, come on. Follow me. I didn't know whether you were a vegetarian or if you ate meat so I have a couple options for whatever. I have... Pigs in a blanket, a cheese plate, hummus, crackers, little sausages, crisps with cheese dip and guacamole and ranch dip, fruit salad, regular salad, and I've got dressings if you want regular salad. From ranch to raspberry vinaigrette to Italian and balsamic and oil." Harry babbled out, biting down on his bottom lip as he showed all of he options that was on the island. What? He needed to have options just in case. He hated places that have one option because most of the time, not everyone likes the one option.

"Oh, goodness.. You are an angel." The lady spoke, instantly going to the fruit and filling a small bowl of the assorted fruits. Then she looked around a moment. "Do you happen to have whipped cream?"

Harry smiled a bit and nodded. "I've got the spray can or the regular."

"Ooh, spray." The lady spoke with a grin. Harry nodded again before heading to his fridge and reaching into the side of it for the can of spray whipped cream. He went back to the two and handed it to the lady.

"This is quite the amount of food.." The man spoke, grabbing his own plate to fill up.

"Well, yes... I cook when I'm nervous and I may have wanted to make you two feel comfortable.. And maybe make a good impression on your wife." Harry trailed off, reaching up to gently scratch the back of his neck as a blush covered his cheeks.

"Should i worry you'll steal her away?" The man spoke teasingly, sending him a wink as he used a toothpick to eat a little sausage.

Harry laughed softly. "No no. Your relationship is mainly what I'm jealous of. Plus, i don't necessarily swing towards the uh... Female population."

"Ah.." The man trailed off. For a moment, Harry worried that maybe being gay was a deal breaker. He was about to open his mouth to speak before the man beat him to it. "So its me my wife is gonna have to worry about."

Harry almost melted into a pile of relief.

"Oh, you can have him." The lady said with a small laugh. "He's a handful."

And with that, they all seemed to laugh.

 


	27. One And Only part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,020

"So... Lets get down to business, yeah?" Harry spoke softly once they all left the kitchen and went to the living room to sit down on the sofa. They brought more snacks upon the lady's request because she said being pregnant makes her hungry all the time and she'd rather not get up multiple times to get more when they're having a serious talk.

"Do you mind if I record this?" The man spoke. "For legal reasons. The agent said in case we need to have a court session for any reason, its best to get word for word documentation of what was said and agreed upon. If we choose you."

Harry instantly nodded his head. "Yeah! Yeah, yeah, of course. I don't mind at all." He said, smiling.

The man nodded and tapped away at his phone for a moment before he set it on the table, indicating that it was recording at this point.

"Alright. Harry Styles, number 28 and counting of the people we have interviewed." The man spoke. That made Harry nervous. He had competition with at least 27 other people, unless they have more people after him then its over 27 and he doesnt know if that's something he could come on top of.

"According to your file, you're a director. There's obviously complications following that." The lady spoke up, Harry's gaze going over to her now.

"Right. I understand the concern." Harry said easily. "You're concerned about travel and not being in the house a lot, correct?"

"Yes, that and the media attention." The man said.

"Right, right. Well, thankfully directors don't get half of the attention that the actors and staff do for a film or television series. I don't get bombarded with paparazzi when I'm around town here and if there is something I need to attend, there is security. However, I am my own boss and I finished a film so I do not have anything to worry about except the premiere and that's it. I don't have to accept any films for years and still be alright. I make my own schedule so time home isn't a problem. If I do have a child, I plan to take a couple years or so off to make them my top priority." Harry explained, nodding his head as he spoke. He rehearsed for every type of question imaginable so he thinks that he can win them over. Maybe. He hopes.

"That was a good answer." The lady told her husband, popping a grape into her mouth. Her other hand rest on her stomach.

"We don't have to worry about any kind of financial difficulties, either." The man spoke up, looking to Harry.

"No, sir. I can be able to afford to put the child in the best schooling and give them all the necessities needed. Maybe even spoil them with gifts here and there." Harry laughed a bit. It was going good. He had a good feeling about this.

"That's good. My only concern is all the animals." The lady spoke up. "I understand that they're all trained and such but if the baby has... Lets say an allergy with cats and dogs."

Harry sighed softly. "If the child has allergic reactions with any of the animals, I'll make sure none of them are exposed to him or her. They'll be out of the house. I love them to bits and pieces so I definitely wont give them away but I'll have them stay with a family member or friends. I do not give up on family." He had that answer rehearsed as well.

The man and woman looked at each other and Harry didn't know what that meant.

"Um.. I also wanted to pipe in with an offer." Harry spoke up before anything else. "If you do choose me, which I'm really hoping for because you two seem absolutely lovely and your child no doubt will be beautiful and perfect.. But if you do, Im glad to offer you a place here for the remainder of the pregnancy."

"What do you mean?" The man spoke.

"I mean, i can offer to take care of you both. Not just her. I want to make you both comfortable with me and everything if you choose me. I've got a lot of room already so its nothing like an inconvenience. Plus, I've got a private chef that —"

"You had me at private chef." The lady interjected, leaning forward to set her plate down and just pushed off of the sofa to stand.

"What?" Harry frowned a bit. His overthinking mind automatically assuming that she was ready to leave.

"I mean, think about this, honey—" the man spoke, standing as well.

"Baby, he's got all of the qualifications we need! He's intelligent, he's got room for the child to grow and the house upon first glance is baby proof enough, he's got money to support the child, he's so kind hearted.. And he's got a private chef." The lady spoke.

At that point, Harry stood up from the sofa and just bit his nails. That sounded like a confirmation. His heart was beating rapidly out of his chest but he didn't want to assume anything just yet.

The man and woman whispered for another second before the man turned to look at Harry with a small smile. "The misses has made up her mind. I think we can sign off on those papers.."

"Are you... Are you serious?" Harry spoke, voice soft because he couldn't believe it. The one couple he has over chooses him. That had to be luck.

"Deadly. Can we move in tomorrow?" The lady spoke.

"Oh my god." Harry breathed out, moving over to them and instantly bringing them both in for a hug. Obviously he was being careful, though, because he didn't want to actually squish the lady and hurt her or the baby. "Thank you so much. Oh my god, you have _no idea_ how much this means to me."

He was going to be a dad. This day was probably the best day of his life so far.


	28. Last Person I Expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,229

"I'll be gone for not long at all. I have to get to a fitting but there is a notebook of—"

"Phone numbers and any emergency contact lists."

"And if you're —"

"Hungry call the chef."

"Okay but if—"

"I _know._ I've been here for a good month and a half now, I feel like I have an idea on how things run." Adelaide spoke, hand resting over her stomach.

Harry gave a soft sigh before nodding. "Right. Right, you're right. I understand. I feel like its my responsibility to—"

"Take care of me because I'm carrying your child. Harry, darling, Jeff will be back soon and I'll be /fine/. I am an adult and I have your dogs here with me as well in case something happens. They'll protect me." Adelaide spoke again, giving a small chuckle. "If you don't leave this house, though, I will."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Pregnant women and their bossiness." He teased, moving to leave the room so he could grab for his coat and slip on his shoes.

"I don't hear the front door opening!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Harry laughed out. "Send me—"

"Goodbye, Harry!" And with that, Harry just shook his head with a fond smile.

Over the month that he's had with the couple moving in to the house, he can say that he has grown extremely fond of them both. They were just a delight to have. Harry had asked not too long ago why a couple this perfect for each other and this well rounded didn't want their child. He got the answer that they just weren't ready yet and they didn't want to put the child through foster care or anything when so many people wait decades to adopt. And theyre against abortion, which Harry delightfully agreed with, so there they were. Harry was extremely grateful. There's no other feeling that compares to the feeling of actually knowing you're having a baby. Getting to feel the baby move around in her stomach and familiarising your voice with them and _god_ was he ready for that.

Harry opened the front door and stepped out, turning to shut it as he got outside and locking it up, making sure to wait to hear the automatic lock clicking shut after he entered the pin code. Then he turned around to get to his car. He didn't exactly get far, though, because right there in his driveway was someone he didn't want to see.

Louis was leaving against the hood of his car, arms behind his back and head down.

Harry stayed where he was a second longer before he just shook his head and walked towards the car. "Excuse me. This is private property and you are in fact trespassing."

Louis' head snapped up when he heard Harry's voice. "Okay but you're not answering anything of mine and its been months and I know that the whole thing is out of my care since you were chosen and my job is technically done with you but—Shit. I'm not here for the _job_."

Harry narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're the absolute _last_ person I expected to see today or even wanted to see today. And I have plans. So. Goodbye and get off of my car."

Louis shook his head. "No. This is the only way that I can talk to you, I've found. You're so _stubborn._ I need to tell you something and you need to just.. Just stand there and listen to me."

Harry raised an eyebrow at that but he found himself staying where he was anyways. Not because Louis said so, he told himself, only because he needed an explanation. That's it.

"Okay. Okay, thank you." Louis spoke, voice lowering back to normal since he didn't have to do anymore convincing. "Alright... Lets get the obvious out of the way."

"Oh, yes. You fucked me and then left." Harry cut him off. "Even after knowing the letting someone in was so fucking tough for me. After knowing that I needed someone. You used me and left me. Yes, lets bring out the obvious."

Louis sighed softly. "You make it sound like its worse than it is."

That made Harry laugh. "Oh. Oh, my mistake. Because my feelings are definitely not as bad as I'm claiming. Right. I'm just some over dramatic baby. Its just sex. No big deal."

"No, that's not—"

"Shut the fuck up, Louis. Honestly. I don't know why you came here but you're making it worse. I tried to listen but no. Fuck you, fuck off, excuse me." Harry snapped, moving to walk towards the front of his car.

If he has to run Louis over, so be it. He'll claim self defence since Louis was on his private property. He wouldn't kill him, obviously, but if he breaks something, maybe his dick, Harry will feel accomplished.

That didn't happen, though, because Louis stepped in front of him and held onto his shoulders.

"Oh my _god_ are you serious? Do you not know when to fucking quit?" Harry shouted, reaching up and pushing Louis' hands off of his shoulders. "You hurt me, Louis! Fuck! You think I want to look at your damn face right now? You broke my heart. You broke my heart that was already broken."

Louis shook his head. "No. I mean. Okay, Im a dick—"

"Duh."

"Okay. Im a dick and a fucking asshole and I'm every bad word in the book. I know that. I do. I fucking hate what I did because I like you. I _like_ you, Harry." Louis continued. "And before you say anything else, let me explain. I was scared. Okay? I was scared to get involved because I could lose my job, as silly as it sounds, because it would look bad on me and you if you suddenly got in because your boyfriend works with an adoption agency. You wouldn't be able to get through and I would be fired. Okay? I knew that I had to leave because I wanted the best for you."

Harry stayed silent, the familiar feeling of a burning sensation through his nose and behind his eyelids coming through. He didn't want to cry, though, so he tried his absolute best to keep that back. "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered softly.

"I didn't... I didnt know what to say." Louis said softly. "I didn't want to hurt you by saying something stupid but I know now that I hurt you even more by leaving."

"I cant trust you." Harry stated.

"Im not asking for trust. Im asking for a second chance." Louis said instantly after.

Harry reached up, biting on his thumb nail and looking at the ground. "Im going to a tailor. You're still welcome to be my plus one at the premier. That's your second chance."

Louis gave a small smile, almost in disbelief. "Really? Yeah, yeah. Okay.. Okay. Thank you." He said, moving out of the way for Harry to walk around him and get to his car finally.

Before Harry got in, he looked back at Louis and sighed. "Don't make me regret this more than I already am." And with that, he got in and shut the door, not looking at Louis again as he started his car and drove out of the driveway.


	29. The Premiere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 1,179

Harry was freaking out. Okay, maybe he wasn't freaking out because he wasn't in any way, theoretically or literally, pulling his hair out. So, maybe it was a calm panic. That sounds a bit better. Though, he was in some sort of distress. Thankfully it wasn't about any big issue. It was about something a little less serious.

It was Louis.

Harry hated Louis. Harry hated Louis in the 'you used me and I never want to see you again but you look absolutely amazing in a tux and please fuck me' kind of hate. So, the normal hate in a situation like this. But fuck did Louis look amazing in a tux. Harry felt a little silly standing next to him like this. Not to _mention_ that his own mother even looked brilliant. God. Cant people be ugly for a change? Or... Uglier than him. His white and black floral suit doesn't look too appealing anymore.

"You're freaking out." Louis whispered next to him. "The cameras are zooming in on your stress wrinkles on your forehead."

Harry looked over at him, instantly relaxing his frown he wore. Okay. That is a little bit embarrassing.

"This isn't your first premiere, right? The movie looks sick. You're gonna do just fine." Louis spoke again, reaching up and fixing the shoulders of Harry's suit.

"I know I will. Stop pestering me." Harry grumbled and turned away, walking away a bit further down the red carpet. Leaving Louis to frown a little and watch as Harry walked further.

Louis cleared his throat and looked to his other side at where Harry's mother was and just looked down. He don't know the lady and he definitely didn't want to get involved with her in case Harry spewed terrible things to her. He almost wanted to leave because he wasn't comfortable at all and he wasn't going to just let everyone walk over him. Then he realised that this was his last chance to show Harry that he was sorry. That he wants nothing more in this world then to help him through his tough times and be there for him.

When he looked back over at Harry, he noticed that he was talking to an interviewer and just sighed, slowly walking away as to not want anything to do with any more cameras and anymore attention. He was brought here but he felt like he definitely wasnt wanted by anyone here. He knew he needed to make things right with Harry but he didn't know how to do that yet. There wasn't anything he could do with Harry ignoring him and he knew he couldn't do anything else while the movie played. This was his last chance and Harry made everything impossible.

He walked into the cinema and just looked around a moment. There were already a bit of the actors in the movie in there and socializing. This wasnt his kind of scenery at all and he felt out of place and underdressed and definitely not important to anyone at all. Not to mention how there would now be pictures of him all over the world being a loner and being hated by Harry Styles. God, he never should have came.

It was about ten minutes of standing around awkwardly before someone came up and tapped his shoulder. He looked over and gave a small smile, not knowing the person next to him but they probably were worth more than his life. So, of course he'd smile.

"You seem a bit lost. Do you know where youre supposed to be?" The man spoke, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Oh. Yeah, uh... I lost the person I came with." Louis admitted sheepishly, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck, looking around for a moment. "Harry Styles.."

"Oh, you're Styles' date, eh? You wont be seeing him anymore. Busy director and all." The man said with a small smile, making Louis laugh a bit.

"Yeah, yeah. Busy bee, he is.." Louis said with a soft sigh, looking down and just fumbling about with his fingers a bit.

"Well, I can take you to the directors box. That's where him and his family will sit to view the screening." The man said with a kind smile.

Louis felt himself relaxing a bit. "That's sounds awesome, yeah. Dont think he'll have the time and such to do anything with me, let alone show me around.."

"Awesome. I'll bring you there. But first, maybe a drink? They hand out the best wine at these things. But if you're into something a bit more, they do have whiskey sours."

Just as Louis was about to answer, mainly with a simple 'hell yeah', he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. He tensed up instantly but when he glanced up and saw that it was Harry, he relaxed a bit.

"Its alright. I've got him, mate, thanks." Harry spoke up instead towards the man.

"Alright, was just trying to be helpful." The man said with a small chuckle. "Congrats on the film, Styles. Really. Made a pretty big impact on the film industry with this one."

Harry merely hummed and gave a small nod, turning to look down at Louis instead. "Come on, we're heading in."

"But what about—"

"You can drink to your hearts desire after the film." Harry interrupted him, causing Louis to frown but he had to follow along anyways. It was hard not to follow along seeing as Harry had his arm around him still and it didn't ease up one bit.

God, Harry was so confusing. It was almost giving him whiplash from it all. One moment he's snapping at him, the next he's acting like a protective lunatic, then back to snapping at him. Louis knew he was in for a hard time with what he did, breaking Harrys already fragile heart, but did he really deserve this? This was basically public humiliation and he was at his wits end with it all, really.

Once they reached the theatre room, he was ushered to the top section where there sat a priority box, looking at each seat. There were place cards on each one and when he found his name at the end, he just took it off gently and sat down, looking back up to Harry.

"Now wait here. Ive got to go down and talk a bit and whatnot infront of the screen first." Harry said to him, looking around. He was nervous. Immensely so. Hes seen cuts of the movie countless times and knew that it was to its best capability but showing the movie to people and getting ready to have it open to public eye around the world was nerve wracking. No matter how many times he does it.

"Alright. Break a leg." Louis said softly, giving Harry a small thumbs up. Harry gave a small flicker of a smile before turning to leave. If only Louis knew that would have been the last time he got to talk to Harry that night.


	30. Hopelessly Devoted

Its been two days, seven hours, sixteen minutes and twenty three seconds.

Not that Harry's counting or anything.

Okay, yes. He is counting. He is waiting for it to be three days before he does anything. He refuses to be the first to call but since he hasn't gotten a call yet, he's going to be cliché and wait the whole three days.

God, why is he so nervous? He's a grown adult and he needs to stop acting like he's seventeen again. Honestly.

"What am I going to do with my life, Chunk?" Harry sighed out as he looked over to his side where his bulldog laid out. Of course the dog couldn't talk but Harry needed someone to vent to. His other dogs are roaming around the house and his cats are in that stage where they don't want anything to do with anyone unless they want something. Ace was rolling around in his mud, which reminds him that he needs to hose him off. And Jinx was swimming around on his back eating his watermelon. So that left him with Chunk. His big baby. He was the most cuddly of all his animals and he loved it.

"I'm stupid, huh?" Harry continued to speak. "I'm mad at him. He ruined my premiere by being there. He was only a burden. I dont know why I invited him. I really don't. I honestly believe that he didnt even try hard enough to make any efforts, you know? He should have done something when he left me not when I finished associating with him and his company. He's the one at fault and he's the bad guy in this situation."

Chunk gave a soft huff of breath, his droopy, tired eyes looking over at Harry as his head was resting between his paws laid out infront of him.

Harry huffed out his own breath and moved to hold his phone to his chest instead. "Its ridiculous, you know? He's out here trying to get on my good side yet he intervenes on my premiere and just takes up a seat. Doesn't even congratulate me or anything. I bet he just wanted a way in and to get publicity from being with me. Why else wouldn't he have tried to talk to me sooner? You know? I bet that was it."

Right as he was about to continue his rant, his phone buzzed against his chest. He pulled his phone up to glance at it.

**From:** _**Louis -** _ _Hey..._

**From:** **_Louis -_ ** _So, I was wondering if you wanted to meet up?_

Harry let his thumbs hover the keys before he pursed his lips together. "You know, Chunk. I've always had faith in him. He's a dick but he's the good kind."

**To:** _**Louis -** _ _Hey.. Not today. Busy. Sorry._

Harry closed his phone and set it on his chest again. He tilted his head to the side and saw Chunk staring at him with his droopy eyes. He sighed softly. "I can't just agree, Chunk. That makes me seem desperate and like I've forgiven him. He has to suffer a bit more."

The dog gave out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. Harry just shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about. I know what Im doing. Trust me."

~

Harry did, in fact, not know what he was doing.

Its been three more days and Harry was fucked. Louis never responded after that and Harry wasn't going to message him because now he's embarrassed as well as how he was already stubborn. 

God, maybe he fucked up. Louis gave him a chance and he definitely wasn't going to try and get another chance because Harry definitely chased him away. He was playing it up way too much and now he went and made Louis really hate him and leave him alone forever which he really didn't want even though it was what he thought that he wanted a week ago. He was so fucking--

There was a knock at the door. 

Harry never moved faster in his life to get to the door but with his luck, Beast was laying a couple feet from where he was and now he found himself slamming into the ground and almost breaking his bloody arm in the process. 

"God fucking dammit, Beast!" Harry cursed out, moving to get up, arm going over to hold onto his now throbbing arm as he ran the rest of the way to the door. He yanked the door open with a grin before it dropped instantly when he saw who it was. 

"Wow. Don't go throwing a party for me." Adelaide said with a laugh, one hand holding a bag and the other hand resting on her stomach. Jeff was out at the car grabbing a couple other bags and it seemed like they went shopping for food. Which they really never needed to do since his chef brings everything they need for the bigger meals. But then again, Adelaide seemed very very content with giving groceries and telling Harry or the chef what she was craving. She may seem demanding but she was holding Harry's baby and he would honestly do anything for her at this point. 

"I'm sorry. Welcome back." Harry smiled slightly and moved aside to allow her to walk inside. "I was just... hoping someone would be coming by. But I know now that it was a bit irrational."

Adelaide hummed softly. "That Louis bloke, yeah? You talk about him to your dogs and cats a lot. It's cute."

That made Harry blush a bit. 

"You seem to be concerned that he will leave you forever. Which I'm sure he wont. But you never gave him any kind of chance to make it up to you. You should probably go to him, honestly. Be the bigger man. Stop moping around." She continued to talk, moving to the kitchen to set the bag she had in her hands down onto the island. 

Harry frowned, opening his mouth a moment after. 

"Nope. No. You're going to find so many excuses not to do it and I'm stopping you right there. Go out and find him and talk about whatever you have going on. You can thank me later." She cut him off. 

Harry sighed a bit and just nodded his head slightly before walking towards the door, moving aside to allow Jeff inside of the house. "Alright.. I'm going. Im going out the door. Im getting my shoes on. I am putting on--"

"Go!"

~

"Okay... Just go in there and be like... Hey. I done being selfish." Harry spoke to himself as he sat in the front seat of his car. "No, that's stupid. He might not know you're being stubborn. Just say... Hey, coffee? No, that's stupid too. He doesn't even like coffee. Say--"

He jumped when the passenger door was being opened and looked over with wide eyes as he saw none other than Louis climbing into the car. 

"Im stubborn, coffee?" Is what his mouth decided was brilliant to say. 

Louis smiled slightly with a small nod. "Dork."

It felt right.


End file.
